It is the curse of strong gymnastics nations to have too much talent for one major team.
Martha Karolyi has dealt with it for the past 10 years, Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang for the 20 years before that. One sign that Romania is getting things back on track is that it is hard to determine, given the results of this week's national championships in Onesti, who will represent Romania in Tokyo.
A few names are obvious: Ana Porgras won her third straight Romanian title, and Diana Chelaru and Sandra Izbasa opted to skip the championships in order to rest for...well, probably not for the Ghent World Cup, that's for sure.
In addition to Romania's big three, nationals runner up Amelia Racea, third place finisher Raluca Haidu and Catalina Ponor all appear to be in good condition and ready for Worlds. Same with first-year senior Diana Bulimar, a firecracker floorworker. Gabriela Dragoi, an Olympic veteran, posted the second highest score on bars at the Romanian Nationals, behind Porgras.
And therein lies the dilemma for Belu and Bitang -- do you take a gymnast like Dragoi who is likely only capable of contributing one event, even if it's the team's weakest? If so, who do you leave behind?
This question is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. As the other strong gymnastics nations are likely to do, Romania should tote a "training squad" of all eight gymnasts to Tokyo and decide who the actual team members will be at the last minute.
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