Another Surveillance
Béla Károlyi immediately reached out to Nadia when he got word of her arrival in the US, as did quite a number of others. But no one heard from her. This was strange, she was in a new land far from home, surely she would want to see her old coach? But she never returned anyone’s calls. Because she never got them. Constantin Panait had taken the place of the Romanian government in screening her calls, ensuring she didn’t receive them.
Supportive Friendship
It was only when Nadia went with Panait to visit some friends in Canada that she was able to escape this closed reality Panait had created. They were staying at Alexandru Stefu’s, a friend from Romania, house. When he finally got her alone he asked what she had planned for her future. She told him she was actually thinking of staying in Montreal but hadn’t told Panait yet. She also opened up about the fact that it was because of him that she hadn’t been in touch with anyone, and realized that he was limiting her communication. The next day when she woke up, Panait was gone. Turns out Stefu confronted him and he fled. Despite all of this, Nadia is still grateful to Panait for helping her escape Romania.