Athlete of the week

Romania's women weightlifters on the rise in Europe and around the world

Florin Orban, 13.04.2021, 13:45

The Romanian women weightlifters’
performance for quite some time now has seen an upward trend. Among the
weightlifters that have recently confirmed their status there is Loredana Toma,
who last week walked away with three gold medals at the European Championships in
Moscow. In the 64-kilogram category, Toma won gold in the snatch style, with a
deadlift of 114 kilograms, a new European record. We recall Loredana Toma also set
the previous performance, with a deadlift of 113 kilograms, on January 29, 2020
in Rome. Back then the British weightlifter Sarah Davies won silver, with 101
kilograms, while Russia’s Anastassya Anzorova walked home with bronze, with a
deadlift of 100 kilograms. Loredana then won silver in the clean and jerk style, with a deadlift of 130 kilograms. Loredana Toma had a failed attempt at 137
kilograms. Had she succeeded, Toma would have set a new European record. Davies was the runner-up
weightlifter, with 129 kilograms, while Anzorova came in 3rd, with 122
kilograms. So Loredana Toma emerged as winner overall, with 244 kilograms. We
recall that overall, Loredana is the European record holder, with 249
kilograms. The silver medal went to Sarah Davies, with 230 kilograms, while
bronze went to Anzorova, with 222 kilograms. Reason enough for Radio Romania International to
designate Loredana the Athlete of the week.

In Moscow, Loredana Toma was designated the European Championship’s best weightlifter. According to the
Sinclair rankings compiled by the European Weightlifting Federation, Loredana
Toma came at the top of the table, with 317.1 points. Loredana’s challenger in
the 64-kilogram category, British weightlifter Sarah Davies, was the runner-up
competitor, with 299.4 points. Ukraine’s Kamila Konotop, in the 55-kilogram
category, was 3rd-placed, with 298 points. Another Romanian, four-time
European champion in the 49-kilogram category, Monica Csengeri, came in fourth,
with 295.8 points.

Loredana Toma was born on
May 10, 1995, in the northern Romanian town of Botoşani. Loredana is a
many-time winner of European U-21 and youth championships. In the senior’s
version of European competitions, in 2013 and 2014, Loredana Toma walked away
with silver in the 58-kilogram category. Over 2014 and 2016 Loredana was banned
from competition since she tested positive for Stanozolol. Loredana Toma has
been dominating the 63-kilogram category, the snatch as well as the clean and
jerk style competitions, since the European championships held in Croatia in
April 2017. In December 2017 at the World championships in Anaheim, the USA,
Loredana Toma reconfirmed her status since she walked home with three other
gold medals. At the European championships in Bucharest in 2018, Loredana Toma won
a string of medals. In 2019, at the European championships in Batumi, Loredana was a three-time
gold medalist. At the world championships in Thailand, also in 2019, Loredana
won two bronze medals in the 64-kilogram category, in the clean and jerk style
and overall.