Former gymnastics coach Octavian Bellu was appointed as the new president of Romania's sports governing body (ANS) on Friday.

Bellu takes the charge of ANS to replace Gheorghe Florian, who resigned last month.

"I agreed to take charge of Romania's sporting future in a decisive period of preparation for the 2008 Olympics," Bellu said.

"My main objective is to maintain Romania among the 15 top Olympic forces in Beijing."

Bellu, 55, competed in athletics, volleyball and basketball but his greatest strength was in gymnastics training.

He and his coaching team trained Romania's women's squads to more than 100 Olympic and world championship medals over 25 years.