 | Lavinia Milosovici (born October 21, 1976 in Lugoj) is a Romanian Olympic gymnast. Milosovici, also known as "Milo" in the gymnastics community, was considered Romania's top gymnast of the 1990s, earning an impressive 19 World Championship and Olympic medals. She is probably best remembered for her performances at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where she scored a perfect 10 on the floor exercise during the event finals. Milo's 10 was one of only two awarded at those games, and as it turns out, the last ever to be awarded in Olympic competition. An exceptionally successful athlete on the international competition circuit, Milo medalled in every single World Championship and Olympic Games between 1991 and 1996. However, her career mirrored that of Romanian icon Daniela Silivas in that she was never able to win a single major all-around title. She fell during the 1993 World Championships, and critical mistakes placed her second then third in 1994 and 1995. A similar fate also fell upon her long-time teammates and friends Gina Gogean and Simona Amanar, as all three consistenly lost World and Olympic All-Around titles to Shannon Miller, Lilia Podkopayeva, and Svetlana Khorkina. Though she may have come up short in all-around competitions, there is no disputing the impact that her leadership had on her younger teammates. Under her guidance, Romania won two world team titles in 1994 and 1995. Milosovici also led the Romanian team to a bronze at the 1996 Olympics, in spite of a spate of injuries that left the squad depleted of several key gymnasts and eventually with only six athletes instead of seven. The Romanian team has always been noted for their sisterly team spirit, and Milosovici was part of this tradition. In team competition, she was always to be seen hugging her fellow gymnasts, congratulating them for good performances and comforting them after mistakes. |
At the 1996 Olympics, Milo had the rare opportunity to improve upon her third place all-around finish in Barcelona--as did her longtime rival Shannon Miller, who looked to improve upon the silver medal in Barcelona. Though Milo was largely overlooked throughout the competition, her trademark consistency allowed her to take advantage of her competitor's mistakes, and she became the first gymnast since Nadia Comaneci to medal in the all-around at consecutive Olympics. Her teammates Gina Gogean and Simona Amanar made history as well. With Gogean winning the silver and Amanar tying Milo for the bronze, the Romanian team became one of the few to have all of their competitors medal in the all-around. Milo's shining accomplishment is that she has won a World or Olympic title on every apparatus--something that not even her fiercest and more successful competitors could manage. Indeed, Milo was the first gymnast since Vera Caslavska (of Czechoslovakia) to ever realize this feat. Milosovici is married to police officer Cosmin Vânatu. They have one daughter, Denisa Florentina. |  |