Romanian gymnast Marian Dragulescu, eight times world champion, sharply criticized tennis star Simona Halep for her statement about Romania’s flag bearer at the Rio Olympics.

The Romanian Sports and Olympic Committee (COSR) decided that gymnastics Olympic champion Catalina Ponor will carry Romania’s flag at the 2016 Rio Olumpics opening ceremony. Simona Halep and Cristina Neagu, the world’s best handball player in 2015, were also on the COSR list, as well as Marian Dragulescu and sport shooter Alin Moldoveanu, but Ponor got the most votes.

“I was thinking that I or Cristina Neagu would be chosen. I think that Neagu would have deserved this, in my view, but the decision has been made. I congratulate Catalina Ponor, because it’s a great honor to be the flag bearer in Rio,” Halep said, according to Mediafax.

Marian Dragulescu thinks this statement is insulting to him, Catalina Ponor, and all the other athletes who have won medals for Romania at the World Championships, European Championships, and Olympic Games.

“The honor goes to the one who has won the most medals for Romania. I suggest to you, Simona, to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics and see how hard it is to win a medal for Romania, and surely you will have more appreciation for the athletes who have won several medals at the Olympics,” Dragulescu wrote in a Facebook post.

He thinks that both Simona Halep and Cristina Neagu still need to confirm before having such claims.

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editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Marian Dragulescu Official on Facebook)