Scotland may be Viorel Etko’s adopted home but there is little doubt his roots in Moldova remain strong.
A pre-Commonwealth Games training camp in his native country, where he reunited with his former wrestling coach Constantin Cobileanu, reinforced how lucky he feels to be wearing the Team Scotland vest in Australia.
Etko left Moldova nearly 20 years ago for a better life. The break-up of the Soviet Union had thrown much of the region into “chaos” as Etko puts it and he decided his future lay elsewhere.
London was his first port of call, then Glasgow. A decade ago, he made Oldmeldrum his home with his wife Laura. But a trip back to the Olympic reserve school he attended in Calarasi – and a reunion with his old coach – was a moment tinged with nostalgia.
Etko said: “I never forget my roots; it’s who I am and it’s in my DNA. My son will have some of that passed down to him. I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve been given. Constantin has always been a huge inspiration for me and I always looked up to him. He used to sit us together and tell stories, trying to inspire us and he’d say ‘one day, you’ll thank me for this’.
“I was at the boarding school until I was 17 – we’d train twice a day until Saturday, then do it all again on Monday. It was ran like an army camp and as you can imagine, not many people wanted to continue on living like that after they left. It’s a tough environment but I like the lifestyle that comes with wrestling.
“Nothing stands still, everything changes. I emigrated to Romania when I was 17 and never really went back. Politically, Moldova was in turmoil between the east and the west and I remember looking round and knowing I didn’t see my future here. It’s hard to imagine that I have come to the fortunate situation of representing my adopted country. It’s huge for me.”
Etko, who runs his own sports academy in Oldmeldrum, has had an even more poignant reminder of his roots of late. Older brother Victor, who he had not seen for the best part of 20 years, now lives with him and has joined his squad at Etko Sports Academy.
Viorel said: “He’s been a great help with work. Even if it’s something as simple as opening and closing the academy – we start at six in the morning – it might not seem important but you need someone to do it.”
The bronze medal he won in the 61kg freestyle wrestling in Glasgow four years ago gives off a storybook feel, given its where he fell in love, not just with Scotland but with Laura.
Etko said: “Glasgow was the making of me. It’s where I met Laura and it’s where my son, Leon, was born. That’s where I found my identity as a Scottish person. I can go back to the facilities I used to go to and everyone still says hello.”