Tag: athletes

  • September 11, 2024

    September 11, 2024

    Legislation – The defense committee of the Romanian Senate is meeting today, with Defense Ministry representatives being expected to join, most likely to discuss the legislation in the field, in the context of the entry into the Romanian airspace of some Russian drones launched against neighboring Ukraine. In the night of Saturday to Sunday, residents of Tulcea and Constanţa counties (south-east) were warned by RO-Alert messages about the possibility of objects falling from the airspace. Later, the army identified fragments of a drone of Russian origin in uninhabited areas near the town of Periprava. The Romanian Defense Ministry sent a firm message to condemn these Russian attacks against Ukrainian civil infrastructure targets and elements, which are unjustified and in serious contradiction with the international law. The Romanian diplomacy reiterated its firm protest against the violation, once again, of Romania’s airspace and categorically demanded the cessation of the repeated attacks against the Ukrainian population and civil infrastructure.

     

    Inflation – The annual inflation rate in Romania dropped, in August 2024, to 5.1%, from 5.42% in July, in the context in which foodstuffs prices rose by 4.25%, non-foods prices by 4.35%, and the price of services by 8.60%, according to data published on Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The National Bank of Romania (BNR) revised downwards the inflation forecast for the end of 2024 to 4%, from the previous 4.9%, and anticipates that it will reach 3.4% at the end of 2025, according to the data presented in August by Governor Mugur Isărescu.

     

    Decorations – The Romanian athletes who won medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris will be decorated, this evening, by President Klaus Iohannis, according to an announcement on the Facebook page of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR). At the Paris Games, both Olympic and Paralympic, Romania obtained a total of four gold, four silver and three bronze medals. Visually impaired Florin-Alexandru Bologa, 28, won a gold medal in para judo, in the men’s -73kg J1 category. Camelia Ciripana won the bronze in para table tennis, the women’s singles. In the Olympics Games, Romanian athletes won three gold, four silver and two bronze medals. The gold medal was obtained in swimming by David Popovici, in the 200 m freestyle event, in rowing, the double sculls event, by Andrei Sebastian Cornea and Marian Florian Enache, and in the women’s eight plus one event by the crew made up of Maria Magdalena Rusu, Roxana Iuliana Anghel, Nicoleta Ancuţa Bodnar, Maria Lehaci, Adriana Adam, Amalia Bereş, Ioana Vrînceanu, Simona Geanina Radiş and Victoria Ştefania Petreanu. The silver was won by Mihaela Valentina Cambei in weightlifting – 49 kg, Gianina Elena van Groningen and Ionela Livia Cozmiuc in the women’s lightweight double sculls, Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Iuliana Anghel, in the women’s pair and Simona Geanina Radiş and Nicoleta Ancuța Bodnar, in the women’s double sculls. David Popovici won bronze in swimming, in the 100 m freestyle, and Ana Maria Bărbosu, in artistic gymnastics, in the floor event.

     

    Elections – The electoral period for the presidential election in Romania begins on Thursday, with the establishment of the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC), according to the timetable approved by the Romanian Government. The BEC members will be appointed by drawing of lots, and a day later the president of the bureau will be elected by secret ballot. Next, candidacies must be submitted by October 5 at the latest and the election campaign will begin on October 25. Romanian citizens with their domicile or residence abroad can vote by mail, and the deadline for submitting requests in this regard is September 24. The first round of the election for the highest office in the Romanian state will take place on November 24, and the second on December 8. Also, Romanians will be called to the polls on December 1, on the National Day, for the general elections to elect their representatives in the Romanian Parliament.

     

    Law – The Romanian Senate adopted a draft law to amend the Criminal Code that provides for a similar legal practice for human trafficking and pimping carried out by coercion. At present, pimps can escape prison sentences, in some cases, if, for example, the victims declare that they were not forced to have sex for money. All parliamentary groups supported the initiative. This amendment to the Criminal Code must also receive a favorable vote in the Chamber of Deputies to become law. On the other hand, the list of prohibited psychoactive substances in Romania has been recently updated. 14 new names were added to the list of narcotics. 13 fall into the category of very high-risk drugs, and one into the category of high-risk drugs.

     

    Music – The 12th edition of the Bucharest Music Film Festival event will take place between September 14-22, in George Enescu Square in the center of Bucharest. According to the organizers, the festival is relaunching in a new concept and offers the public evenings of concerts in a variety of musical styles, from the classical repertoire to jazz, from film music to pop fusion, bringing to the fore hundreds of artists and renowned orchestras. The event is organized by the Capital City Hall, through ARCUB – the Cultural Center of the City of Bucharest and is held under the auspices of Bucharest Days, thus marking 565 years since the first documentary attestation of the city. Public access is free. (LS)

  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week

     

    Romania’s rowing team finished second at the European Championships held last week in Szeged, Hungary. With 8 medals, of which 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze, Romania was only outperformed by Britain, with 10 medals, 8 of which were gold, one silver and one bronze.

     

    Romania won gold medals in the women’s eight, women’s double sculls and pairs, and the men’s double sculls event. The biggest performance in this year’s championships was that of Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Anghel, the winners of gold medals both in the women’s pair event and in the women’s eight race, for which Radio Romania International designated them the Athletes of the Week.

     

    Ioana Vrînceanu was born in Târgu Neamț, north-eastern Romania, on March 7, 1994. She is a member of the Steaua Bucharest club, and she started winning medals in 2017, when she won the gold with Romania’s eight team both at the European Championships in Račice, and in the World Championships in Sarasota. In the double sculls event, she won the European title in 2022, in Munich, together with Denisa Tîlvescu, and then in Bled, with Roxana Anghel, last year.  At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, in 2021, she was part of the team that came out 6th in the women’s eight event.

     

    Roxana-Iuliana Anghel also comes from the north-east of Romania, more precisely from Câmpulung Moldovenesc, where she was born on January 1, 1998. A member of the Dinamo Bucharest club, Roxana-Iuliana Anghel also took part in the Tokyo Olympics, where she came out 9th in the quadruple sculls event. Since last year she has been competing in the women’s pair race together with Ioana Vrînceanu, with whom she has already won two European championships. (AMP)

  • Sports Flash

    Sports Flash

    In the first round of the
    preliminaries for the women’s Euroleague in basketball, Romanian side Sepsi
    Sfantu Gheorghe secured a 59-54 home win against Latvian side TTT Riga. The
    first half of the game was balanced, but the visitors managed to get the
    upperhand in the second half. However, the Romanians managed to regain their
    cutting edge towards the end of the match and sealed the points at a five-goal
    margin. The seconşd match is due in Riga on September 27th.




    Romanian wrestler Cătălina Axente
    has failed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris although she went closest to
    qualification out of all the athletes representing Romania at the World Wrestling
    Championships in Belgrade. In the 76 kilogram category Catalina went fifth
    after losing the match for the third position against Tatiana Renteria of
    Columbia. Axente also lost the qualifying match against Milaimys Marin of Cuba.




    The city of Sibiu in central
    Romania is hosting a men’s tennis tournament with 73 thousand Euros in prize
    money. As Filip Jianu and Cezar Cretu lost to their opponents in the very first round of the competition,
    Romania no longer has any representative in the single competition. Jianu was
    outperformed by Italian Edoardo Lavagno 7-6, 6-4. Creţu, who benefitted a
    wild-card lost to another Italian, Giovanni Fonio, who won the match 7-6, 6-3.




    The UEFA has sanctioned Romania’s
    Football Federation and the country’s national football side is to play one
    match without its fans. The sanction came after the incidents during the
    Romania versus Kosovo in the EURO 2024 qualifiers.


    According to Agerpress news
    agency, the reasons behind the decision are the political and racist slogans
    chanted by the Romanian fans who threw torches and other objects to the pitch,
    and who also blocked public access ways during the match.




    So, under the UEFA decision, fans
    will not be able to encourage their favourite side on October 15th
    against Andorra, when only children up to 14 years old will be allowed on the
    stadium. The UEFA has also fined the Romanian Football Federation with 52 thousand
    euros.




    (bill)

  • Decorations for the Olympic medalists

    Decorations for the Olympic medalists

    Romania has won four medals at the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo, just like five years ago, in Rio, and three less medals than in the 2012 Olympics hosted by London. The only Olympic gold in Tokyo was brought by the women’s rowing crew made up of Simona Radiș and Ancuța Bodnar, in the double sculls event. Also in rowing, but in the mens four, Mihăiță Țigănescu, Mugurel Semciuc, Ștefan Berariu and Cosmin Pascari won the silver medal. In the mens pair, Marius Cozmiuc and Ciprian Tudosă have also won a silver medal. Ana Maria Popescu also brought Romania a silver medal in the fencing epee event. The nine Romanian athletes who have won medals in Tokyo have been decorated in Bucharest by President Klaus Iohannis.



    Simona Radiş spoke on behalf of the athletes at the awards ceremony: “We have discovered what solidarity means, we have received a lot of positive energy and we have been very happy to see that the Romanian society recognized our performance. We are ready to send the message that the Romanian sport has its place in a modern society.”



    The Romanian president told the Olympic medalists that everything they did for Romanian sport is admirable, despite countless and unfair obstacles that sometimes emerge.



    Klaus Iohannis: “Performance is being built every day and involves constant investment in sports infrastructure, the support and promotion of talents and the full involvement of all government actors.”



    At the end of the awards ceremony, President Iohannis added that sport should become a priority again, because it involves the respect for certain values ​​essential for a solid and sound society. Romania ranked 46th in the ranking of medals obtained in Tokyo. The team included 101 athletes, 46 women and 55 men who participated in 17 sports events. The only athlete who could not compete at all was Andrea Miklos, who had some medical problems. Also due to health problems, gymnast Larisa Iordache withdrew from the beam final. Romania’s representatives competed in such competitions as swimming, athletics, rowing, football, artistic gymnastics, 3×3 womens basketball, cycling, wrestling, sports shooting, canoeing, table tennis, boxing, fencing, triathlon, judo, archery and tennis.



    The 32nd edition of the Tokyo Summer Olympics took place between July 23 and August 8. Originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting with the second edition of the Olympics (1900) until now, Romania has rarely missed the most important sporting event of the world. By far, Romania’s participation in the 1984 edition of the Olympics hosted by Los Angeles was the most successful. The Romanian athletes obtained 53 medals at that time, of which 20 gold, which then placed Romania 2nd after the US in the medals ranking. (LS)

  • RRI Sports Club – A million-euro brand

    RRI Sports Club – A million-euro brand

    Owned by the Romanian Army, Steaua Bucharest has been one of Romanias most successful sports clubs since its foundation in 1947. For nearly 70 years Steaya athletes have scooped medals for Romania in Olympic, world and European competitions. The football club Steaua Bucharest won the European Champions Cup in 1986. In 1987 it won the European Supercup, while in 1989 it played the European Champions Cup finals.



    Earlier this week the Romanian Defense Ministry made public the net worth of the brand Steaua, standing at some 57 million euros. High as it may seem, this figure takes into account all of the clubs sports divisions. The estimate also accounts for all the Olympic, world and European titles, as well as the other international trophies won by athletes and teams competing for the Steaua club, including its football team. To give just an example, overall Steaua athletes have grabbed 86 Olympic medals, 403 world medals and 506 European medals.



    Over the next days the net worth of the Steaua brand will be broken down to account for each of its divisions. All eyes in the media are pointed at the Steaua Bucharest Football Club, the defending champions in the current football season, a club owned by the controversial businessman George Becali. The club emerged under a different name in December 2014, when a ruling of the High Court of Cassation and Justice stipulated that George Becali had illegally made use of the Steaua brand in the 2004-2014 period. The Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club must now estimate the total prejudice of this transgression. The Ministry of Defense will then take appropriate action to reclaim the prejudice from George Becalis club. How much of it and how, and particularly the effects this will have on the Steaua football club remains to be seen.