Sports Anniversaries in 2017

The year 2017 is a celebration year for a number of Romanian top-flight athletes as well as for a series of memorable, top-level performances in various sports.

Florin Orban, 01.02.2017, 13:18

The year 2017 is a celebration year for a number of Romanian top-flight athletes as well as for a series of memorable, top-level performances in various sports.

We begin with former Olympic champion Mihaela Penes, who turns 70 in July. Penes was a gold medallist in 1964 in Tokyo and a silver medallist at the Olympic Games in Ciudad De Mexico in 1968, in the javelin throw event. Even after Mihaela Penes retired from competitions, she remained involved in the world of sports, working for the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. Between 2001 and 2005 Mihaela Penes headed the Romanian Olympic Academy.

Also in July 2017, we celebrate 65 years since the first Olympic gold medal was awarded to a Romanian athlete. In the 1952 edition of the Olympic Games, held in Helsinki, sporting shooter Iosif Sarbu won the gold in the mens 50-meter rifle prone.

Forty-five years ago, in the Olympic Games in Munich, Romania won three gold medals. The winners were Ivan Patzaichin in the 1,000m simple canoe event, and Greco-Roman wrestlers Gheorghe Berceanu, in the 48-kilogram category and Nicolae Martinescu in the 100-kilogram category.

Thirty years ago, on February 24, 1987, Romanian football saw one of its greatest performances in history. In Monte Carlo, Steaua Bucharest won the UEFA Super Cup, defeating Dinamo Kiev, 1-nil.

In 2017 we also celebrate 25 years since the Olympic Games in Barcelona, when the Romanian delegation walked home with four gold medals, two of which were won by gymnast Lavinia Milosovici, in the vault and floor events. Rower Elisabeta Lipa won gold in the simple canoe event. Another gold medal went to the coxed four crew, made up of Dimitrie Popescu, Dumitru Răducanu, Iulică Ruican, Nicolae Ţaga and Viorel Talapan.

(translated by: Eugen Nasta)