Tag: athletics

  • European gold for Romanian athletics

    European gold for Romanian athletics

     

    Every two years in early spring, European athletics begins its competition season with the continental indoor championships. This is where we get a first glimpse at the new talents emerging internationally and the prospects for the forthcoming season.

     

    And the results of the recently concluded European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, in the Netherlands, were surprisingly pleasurable for Romanian athletics fans. Romania finished the competition with 2 medals: gold for Andrei Rareş Toader in the men’s shot put competition, and silver for Diana Ion in the women’s triple jump.

     

    It was the best Romanian record in a continental indoor athletics competition in recent years. After 8 years without medals, since the 2015 edition, the Romanians only reached the podium again in 2023 in Istanbul, where Claudia Bobocea won silver in the 1500 meters, and Gabriel Bitan won the bronze in the long jump.

     

    But Romania had not won a European title at an indoor championship for 20 years, more precisely since the one won by Elena Buhăianu in the women’s 1500 meters, in 2005 in Madrid.

     

    Before the start of this year’s competition, Romanian coaches had been moderately hopeful. The target set by the athletics federation in Bucharest was a 4th to 6th place and two qualifications in the finals. In an interview with Agerpres news agency, the coach of the national team Oana Pantelimon highlighted the chances of Andrei Rareş Toader, who had had an excellent start of the season. On Sunday, he met all expectations.

     

    He qualified for the shot put finals in 4th place, with a 20.59m throw. In the final, however, he managed 21.27 m, a whole 23 centimetres better than the contender Wictor Petersson (Sweden). Moreover, this was a new national record for Romania.

     

    The first medal of the Romanian team in Apeldoorn, the silver in the triple jump, had been won on Friday by Diana Ana Maria Ion. With 14.31 m, she achieved the most important performance of her career so far. The gold went to the Spanish athlete Ana Peleteiro-Compaore, who jumped six centimetres higher than Diana. The bronze medal went to the Finnish Senni Salminen, with 13.99 m.

     

    Next up is the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, which will take place from March 21 to 23. The competition was originally scheduled to take place in 2020, but due to the pandemic, it was postponed for three years in a row and it has been rescheduled for this year. (AMP)

  • Sports flash

    Sports flash

    U-BT Cluj-Napoca basketball team has succeeded a heart-throbbing qualification in the quarterfinals of EuroCup men’s competition, having defeated in the round of 16 Lithuanians opponents Wolves Vilnius, 100-99, away. U-BT’s top scorer was their US player Zavier Simpson, with 25 points, 5 recoveries and 14 assists.

    In the quarterfinals, U-BT Cluj-Napoca take on Spain’s Valencia Basket, a team they have already gone against in the EuroCup’s group stage. In both legs of the tie, the Spaniards won, 105-96 in Cluj-Napoca and 108-80 in Valencia and are at the top of the table in Group B. We recall U-BT Cluj-Napoca play the EuroCup’s quarterfinals for the second year in a row, having qualified straight from the competition’s group phase in 2024.

    In news from women’s volleyball, Volei Alba Blaj grabbed a 3-2 away win against Hungarian side Vasas Budapest, in a fixture counting towards the first leg of the CEV Cup semifinals. Romanian vice-champions won after two hours of play and made a giant leap forward to the CEV Cup’s finals.

    With 23 points, the Ukrainian Elizaveta Ruban was the Romanian team’s most efficient scorer. The return leg against Vasas in scheduled on March 11 in Blaj. We recall Volei Alba Blaj has unsuccessfully played four times in European Cups finals, in 2018, in the Champions League, in the CEV Cup, in 2019 and 2023, and in the Challenge Cup in 2021.

    At the 2025 edition of the European Seniors’ Indoor Athletics Championship in Apeldoorn, The Low Countries, Romania has sent a seven-strong delegation, with four athletes proving their mettle in the women’s version of the competition, while other three, in the men’s version.

    Alina Rotaru – Kottmann competes in the long-jump event, Andreea Taloş, Diana Ana Maria Ion, and Răzvan Cristian Grecu, in the hop, step and jump event, Maria Mihalache, in the 60m race, Alin Ionuţ Anton, in the 60m hurdles race and Andrei Rares Toader, in the shot-put event.

    Andreea Miklos, in the 400m race and Stella Rutto in the 3, 000m race initially included the delegation, will not participate in the competition. Recently Miklos has sustained an injury while Rutto was unable to gather the required number of points for qualification. Daniela Stanciu has not been included in the delegation either. We recall Daniela represented Romania at the Paris Olympics in 2024, in the high-jump event and is now recovering after an injury.

  • Radio Romania International Sports Club

    Radio Romania International Sports Club

    Romanian veteran athlete, the late Mihaela Penes passed away on August 29, 2024. Penes was one of Romanian athletics’’ first Olympic champions, Mihaela Penes lead a life totally dedicated to sports, first as a performer, then as a head-coach and official of Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. However, in recent years Mihaela Penes retired from public life. She went to a monastery in Northern Moldavia and later she spent the rest of her days in a care home in Bucharest.

    Mihaela Peneş was born in Bucharest on July 22nd, 1947. She took up sports when still a child, under the direct supervision of her mother. Her first great performance occurred when she was only 7. Back then Mihaela swam across the Floreasca lake. For her performance she was rewarded with an ice-cream.

    Mihaela Penes had a dalliance with swimming and handball, yet she eventually opted for athletics. It didn’t taker her long to break the juniors’ javelin throw national record in 1964, when she was only 17. Also in 1964 Mihaela Penes was included in the line-up for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Back then she was highly unlikely to win a medal, yet Mihaela Penes succeeded the impossible.

    In the qualifiers, veteran athlete Yelena Gorchakova of then the USSR succeeded a throw measuring 62 meters and 40 centimeters, setting a new world record, unparalleled for eight years. However, in the final Gorchakova came in third. From her very first attempt, Mihaela Peneş succeeded to throw the javelin at the distance of 60 meters and 54 centimeters, winning the gold medal. Hungary’s Marta Rudas won the silver medal, with a throw of 58 meters and 27 centimeters. Yelena Gorchakova of then the USSR walked home with silver, with a throw measuring 57 meters and 6 centimeters.

    At the Olympic Games in Ciudad de Mexico in 1968, Mihaela Penes competed as a defending champion. Again, her best attempt in the final was her first throw, measuring 59 de meters and 92 centimetres. However, Hungarian athlete Angela Nemeth in her second attempt managed a throw measuring 60 meters and 36 centimeters, scooping the gold medal, Mihaela Penes had to make do with the silver medal. The bronze medal went to Austria’s Eva Janko, with a throw measuring 58 meters and 4 centimeters.

    After she retired from competition, Penes was a dedicated head coach. Later she was on the official top management staff of the Romanian Athletics Federation and the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. Mihaela Penes also had a stint as director of Romanian Olympic Academy.

  • Olympic update

    Olympic update

    Weightlifter Mihaela Cambei on Wednesday walked away with silver in the 49-kilogram category. Combined, Cambei succeeded a deadlift of 205 kilograms. In the final attempt in the competition, Cambei was outperformed by defending Olympic champion, China’s Zhihui Hou, whose reported combined deadlift stood at 206 kilograms.

    In the snatch style, Cambei had a deadlift of 93 de kilograms succeeding 112 kilograms combined. Winner Zhihui Hou’s 117-kilogram clean-and-jerk deadlift was a new Olympic record. With a combined deadlift of 200 kilograms, Thailand’s Surodchana Khambao walked home with bronze. In the 71-kilogram category, Loredana Toma will prove her mettle on Friday. Romania last won an Olympic weightlifting medal in Atlanta, in 1996, when Nicu Vlad won bronze.

    Cătălin Chirilă on Wednesday advanced to the C1 men’s 1000m final, Chirila won the third heat of the qualifiers, clocking 3 minutes, 44 seconds and 75 hundredths of a second and set a new Olympic record. A world champion in 2022 and a vice-world champion in 2023, Chirila broke a 20-year-old record set by Spain’s David Cal at the Athens Olympics. The semi-finals and the finals are scheduled on Friday.

    In the Olympic discus throw final hosted by Stade de France on Wednesday, the Romanian athlete Alin Alexandru Firfirica came in 11th. His best throw measured 64 meters and 45 centimeters. The winner was Jamaican athlete Roje Stone, with a throw of 70 meters, thus setting a new Olympic record.

    Also in news from athletics, Andrea Miklos wasted the opportunity to advance to the 400m final. In the semifinal she competed in, Miklos ranked 15th, clocking 50 seconds and 78 hundredths of a second, eventually coming in 5th. Romania last won an athletics Olympic medal in athletics in 2008, when Constantina Dita won gold in the marathon.

  • The Athlete of the Week

    The Athlete of the Week

    The Kenyan-born Romanian runner Joan Chelimo Melly from CS Dinamo Bucharest won the women’s half marathon in Paris held on Sunday. She also set a new national record, finishing in 1 hour, 6 minutes and 57 seconds. She was followed by two Kenyan runners, Veronica Loleo, 48 seconds later, and Jesphine Jepleting, 1 minute and 13 seconds later. Romania’s previous half marathon record was 1 hour, 7 minutes and 45 seconds and belonged to Stella Rutto, another Kenyan-born runner, and was recorded on 21st February 2021. For her achievement, Radio Romania International is choosing Joan Chelimo Melly as Athlete of the Week.

     

    Joan Chelimo Melly was born in 1990 in Kenya. She arrived in Romania thanks to her coach, Carol Șanta, who discovered her when she was signed up with the Turkish Athletics Federation. Chelimo Melly and two other Kenyan-born athletes were initially signed up by CSA Steaua Bucharest and officially started competing for Romania in 2021. Her achievements so far are remarkable. Since 2011, she has won six titles in the 10 km race and 3 medals in the 15 km race. She has won no fewer than 10 titles in the half marathon, including in Boston, and now, Paris. She also competes in shorter races, such as the 5,000 m race. Joan Chelimo Melly will compete in the marathon race in the Paris Olympic Games this year and says winning the gold is her main goal.

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

    Romania’s women’s handball team has qualified for the 2024 European Championships hosted by Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. On Sunday night, in Group 1, Romania, missing its star players Cristina Neagu and Crina Pintea, defeated Croatia away from home 25-23. Romania, which tops the group standings with 8 points, is yet to play against Bosnia-Hertegovina away from home and against Greece at home. The top 2 teams in each group qualify into the final tournament, along with the best 4 teams having ranked 3rd in each group.

     

    The Kenyan-born Romanian athlete Joan Chelimo Melly won Sunday’s semi-marathon race in Paris, and set a new national record on this occasion. Coached by Carol Şanta at the Dinamo Bucharest club, Joan Chelimo Melly has qualified to the Paris Olympics marathon event this summer. She finished the race in one hour, 6 minutes and 57 seconds, followed by the Kenyan athletes Veronica Loleo and Jesphine Jepleting, respectively. Romania’s previous semi-marathon record, 1 hour 7 minutes and 45 seconds, had been set by another Kenyan-born athlete, Stella Rutto, on 21 February 2021.

     

    At the Glasgow World Athletics Indoor Championships, the Romanian athlete Alina Rotaru-Kottmann finished 8th in the long jump finals. Two other Romanians, Diana Ion and Andreea Taloş, came out 9th and 10th in the triple jump final.

     

    Romania’s rugby team played on Saturday against Georgia, away from home, in the semi-finals of the 2024 Rugby Europe Championship. Georgia won the match, 43-5. In the other semi-final, on Sunday, Portugal defeated Spain, 33-30. The finals are scheduled on the 17 March in Paris, with Romania and Spain playing for the 3rd place, and Georgia and Portugal competing for the trophy.

     

    This past weekend also saw matches counting towards the 29th round of the Romanian football SuperLeague. On Friday, Poli Iaşi drew against Dinamo Bucharest, 0-0. On Saturday, UTA Arad beat FCU Craiova 3-2, FC Hermannstadt defeated Oţelul Galaţi 4-1, and Farul Constanţa drew against CFR Cluj, 1-1. On Sunday, Universitatea Cluj defeated FC Botoşani 1-0 while FCSB outplayed Petrolul Ploieşti 1-0, with two other matches, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe vs FC Voluntari and Universitatea Craiova vs Rapid Bucharest scheduled for Monday. FCSB rank first in the current standings, with 64 points, followed by Rapid (51) and CFR Cluj (50). (AMP)

  • Sports Flash

    Sports Flash

    Romania will be represented by 7 female athletes at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow, Scotland. Alina Rotaru-Kottmann will be competing in the long-jump event, Andreea Taloş and Diana Ion in the triple jump and Daniela Stanciu, in the high jump contest. Andreea Miklos will represent Romania in the 400 meter dash while Claudia Bobocea and Petronela Simiuc in the 800 and 1500 meter races.

    Romania had 11 athletes in the past edition of the aforementioned indoor competition in Belgrade in 2022, and the best Romanian performance was obtained by Claudia Bobocea – the 9th place in the 1.500 meter race. The latest medals obtained by athletes from Romania in a suchlike indoor contest were at the 2016 edition in Portland, where Andrei Gag reaped silver in the shot put event and the women’s 4×400 meter relay team, which included Andreea Miklos, came third in the race.

    Romania’s rugby side will be playing Georgia on Saturday in an away game of the 2024 edition of Rugby Europe Championship, the second big European contest after Six Nations.  In the other semifinals game on Sunday, Portugal will be up, on their own ground, against Spain. The winners will be playing in the finals due on the Jean Bouin stadium, in Paris on March 17th.

    Romania’s women handball side will be playing Croatia, in Koprivnica on Sunday in a match counting towards the first group of the European Championship qualifiers. The two sides also met on Wednesday in Bistrita, central Romania, where our athletes secured a 26-24 win. In the group’s ranking Romania comes first with 6 points followed by Croatia with 4, Greece with 2 and Bosnia-Herzegovina with no point. The first two sides of each group will qualify as well as the best four sides on the third position.

    This weekend will be seeing a series of matches counting towards the 29th leg of the Romanian Football Superleague. Only one game on Friday when Poli Iasi takes on Dinamo Bucharest. On Saturday, UTA plays FCU Craiova in a home game, then Hermannstadt also at home will be up against Otelul Galati. In Constanta, local side Farul will be playing CFR Cluj. On Sunday, Universitatea Cluj will be playing FC Botosani, while FCSB plays in Bucharest Petrolul Ploiesti. On Monday, Sepsi, on their own turf, will be playing FC Voluntari and Universitatea Craiova, at home, will receive Rapid Bucharest. FCSB ranks first in the standings with 61 points, followed by Rapid, ten points less.

    (bill)

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    The world’s best athletes convene in the
    Olympic Games every four years. The name Olympia is derived from the old Greek
    settlement known as Olympia, located in the Peloponnese peninsula. In Antiquity,
    Olympia played host to the athletic competitions of the Hellenic world, for
    centuries.

    Just like the
    Antiquity competitions, the Olympics Games of the modern times created gods and
    heroes, goddesses and heroines. Until the kick-start of the Olympic Games in Paris
    on July 26, we will focus on legends of the Romanian Olympic competitors in a monthly
    slot, based on the Golden Archivers interviews that have been broadcast by
    Radio Romania international, throughout the years.


    Today we pay tribute
    to Romania’s greatest athlete, Iolanda Balaş-Söter. In 1999 she was the only
    Romanian athlete to have received a nomination, from the International Athletics
    federation, for the 20 Century Athlete title. She was a two-time high-jump Olympic
    champion. She set 5 Olympic and 14 world records. Her records were unbreakable
    for 11 years.


    She took up training
    in athletics with the Electrica Club in Timisoara, when she was 13. In less
    than a year from her debut, she broke the national juniors’ record. When she was
    19, she succeeded her first notable feat as a senior athlete, the 2nd
    place at the European Championship In Berne, Switzerland.

    Here is Iolanda Balaş-Söter, in a radio show broadcast in April 2000:


    I have
    always compared myself to the world’s best athletes. At that time, at the top
    were the English athletes Sheila Lerwill and Thelma Hopkins, with European and
    world records, and of course I asked myself the following question: if they
    could, why couldn’t I ? And then, of course, the path I took to achieve my goal
    became way more accessible, thanks to my strong resolve and the wish to accomplish
    something serious and that’s what I succeeded and I have always thought, if I
    was assigned to represent Romania, I had to get a good result, ’cause that is
    what I came there for. My first success occurred in Berne, in 1954. The 2nd
    place, unhoped for, but I was not satisfied with the 2nd place. I
    said to myself: it can’t be! We need to aim higher; we need to jump higher! I’m
    using the plural because my husband,
    Ioan Söter, was also in Berne, as an athlete, back
    then. Four years later, in 1958,
    in Stockholm, I won the gold medal. It was my first success, my first gold
    medal in a European competition.


    Prior
    to the European Championships in Stockholm, on July 14, 1956, in Bucharest,
    Iolanda Balas set her first world record, with a jump of 1 meter 75 centimeters.

    Iolanda Balas-Soter:


    Quite so, quite so…A performance that just gave
    me a lot of tremendous hope for the Olympic Games of 1956, and everyone went
    like: that’s it, Iolanda will win the gold medal. Sadly, in Melbourne things didn’t
    come out the way I wanted. And that,
    also because my husband, having a brother in Australia, was officially denied
    the travel, being my coach, from that moment on. And we went and had a stay in Australia
    for three weeks, with no coach, with no moral and technical support and, while
    I first ranked as favorite, I barely came in 5th. Imagine how
    hard the blow was, for me, all the more so as the sports official of those
    years called me a traitor of my homeland, saying I sold the medal to the American
    Mildred McDaniel. It was the hardest blow I was dealt in my whole career as an
    athlete, this defeat In the Olympic Games in Melbourne. I thought I would walk
    home with gold and, four years after Melbourne, in 1956, here’s what I wrote in
    my training notebook: I must have my comeback, I must have my comeback… And, using
    a coin, I drew the five Olympic circles and every day I said I had to make it
    up for the flop I had in Melbourne, and I did it, in the long run, in Rome, in
    1960.


    At
    the Olympic Games in Rome, Iolanda Balaş again ranked as favourite…


    In Rome, it was something extraordinary, which means I was just about to
    travel there all alone, again, since my husband was still denied exit clearance
    from Romania because, like I said, his brother was in Australia.
    And some of the higher-ups of that time were dead positive we would stay in the
    West. Well, we had our trials and tribulations trying to go to the Central Committee
    of Romanian Workers’ Party, we were even received in audience by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej,
    then the Secretary General of Romanian Workers’ Party, and I said that if Soter,
    my coach, didn’t come to accompany me in Rome, I would no longer represent
    Romania. That was my wish so I could be successful there, lest I screw it like
    I screwed it in Melbourne. And, at long last, for the first time in four good years,
    Söter got the passport and could leave for Rome. He accompanied me, I won the
    gold medal setting a new Olympic record, 1 meter and 85 centimeters, an exceptional
    result at that time. In the morning we had the qualifiers, in the afternoon,
    the final, it was raining slowly, constantly. But…to cut a long story short, I
    won the gold medal. The satisfaction I had was fantastic, you can imagine.


    Then, in 1964, the Olympic
    success followed.


    In Tokyo, I was dead set on yet again seizing the opportunity to prove, and
    I succeeded, that the win in Rome did not occur by happenstance and I literally
    repeated that performance: the gold medal, I mean, also setting a new Olympic record, of
    1 meter and 95 centimeters.


    Iolanda Balaş-Söter gained
    her place in the book of world records thanks to her 140 consecutive wins.


    My last last defeat
    was in Melbourne, in 1956. Until 1967, nobody could break my records. Actually,
    until I retired from competition.


    From 1991 to 2005, Iolanda Balaş-Sőter was the President of the Romanian Athletics Federation.
    She died on March 11, 2026, at the age of 79.











  • August 21, 2023

    August 21, 2023

    Meeting – The Romanian Prime Minister,
    Marcel Ciolacu, is today participating, in Athens, in a working meeting of the
    heads of state and government from South-Eastern Europe and the Western
    Balkans, organized by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. According
    to a Government communiqué, the talks will focus on the development of regional
    cooperation in South-Eastern Europe, as well as on the challenges posed by the
    developments of the conflict in Ukraine on the states participating in the
    Athens dialogue. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen,
    and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, are attending the
    meeting, along with heads of state and government from the region.

    Ukraine-The Ukrainian President Volodymyr
    Zelensky says he hopes other countries will join Denmark and the Netherlands, countries
    which have decided to supply Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets. The Ukrainian leader
    made the statements at a military air base in Denmark, where he met with the
    Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen. Denmark and the Netherlands will send
    Ukraine 61 F-16s. It was agreed that the planes would be transferred to the
    Ukrainian Air Force in close cooperation with the US and other partners, when
    the conditions for such a transfer are met. Conditions include, but are not
    limited to, successfully selected, tested and trained Ukrainian F-16 personnel
    as well as the necessary authorizations, infrastructure and logistics.
    Ukrainian pilot training will take place in several NATO countries, including
    Romania.




    Athletics-The Romanian athlete Alina
    Rotaru-Kottmann won the bronze medal in the long jump event at the World
    Athletics Championships in Budapest, with 6.88 meters, in the final held on
    Sunday. This is the best performance in her sports career so far. Alina
    Rotaru-Kottmann had already met the entry standards for athletics events at next
    year’s Paris Olympics. Also on Sunday, Andrea Miklos qualified for the
    semi-finals of the 400 m event. The semi-finals take place today. Romania is
    participating with 16 athletes, nine women and seven men, in the World
    Athletics Championships in Budapest. For
    this competition the Romanian Athletics Federation has set the goal of
    qualifying in three finals.




    Baccalaureate – In Romania, the baccalaureate exam
    continues, today, with the written exam in the mother tongue language and
    literature for the national minorities. The first results will be announced on
    August 25, and appeals can be submitted on the same day. The results will be
    published on August 29. 34,000 candidates registered for the autumn session, of
    whom 22,600 finished high school this summer.




    ARC – The ARC Camps Program,
    initiated by the Department for Romanians Everywhere and intended for Romanian
    students and young people everywhere, continues until August 28, in 6 leisure
    centers in Romania. Students and young people from Romania and another 24
    countries of the world participate, including Albania, Austria, the United Arab
    Emirates, Germany, Greece, Italy, Israel, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Moldova,
    Serbia, Spain, Ukraine. ‘We build bridges, build connections and embrace our
    cultural diversity’ this is the message that the Department sends to the
    children and teachers on summer vacation this year in the ARC camps. The camps
    are meant to show Romanian children outside the borders what authentic Romania
    is like. The project aims at facilitating interaction and dialogue between
    young people from historical communities and young people from the Diaspora,
    including through workshops to deepen knowledge of culture, history, geography
    and arts.




    Festival – The George Enescu Festival, the largest classical music
    festival in Romania and one of the most important of its kind in Europe, is
    coming to Timișoara, the European capital of culture in 2023. Great ensembles
    of the world such as Ensemble Intercontemporain, Fine Arts Quartet, Camerata
    Bern, Manchester Camerata and the Romanian Chamber Orchestra will give
    exceptional concerts between September 3 and 20. The first edition of the
    festival was held in 1958. (LS)



  • Sports Weekend

    Sports Weekend


    Two Romanian football clubs stand chances of playing in this years Europa Conference League group stage. Farul Constanţa and Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe have qualified into the play-offs, after winning matches away from home.



    In the return leg of the preliminary round 3, Farul beat Flora Tallinn 2-0, after 3-0 on home turf. In the play-off, Farul will take on the Finnish side HJK Helsinki. Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe, the Romanian Cup winners, Friday defeated Kazakhstans vice-champions Aktobe, 1-0, after a draw, 1-1 in the first leg. They are facing the Norwegian team Bodø/Glimt in the play-off.



    The 3rd Romanian team that played on Thursday in the Conference League qualifiers, FCSB, was kicked out of the competition after losing 0-2 away from home to the Danish side Nordsjælland, and a blank draw last week in the first leg.



    Also in football, this weekend matches are scheduled counting for the 6th round of the Romanian SuperLeague. Two games on Friday, pitting Petrolul Ploieşti against FC U Craiova 1948 and Universitatea Craiova against UTA, will be followed on Saturday by Oţelul Galaţi vs Botoşani and Dinamo Bucharest vs FC Voluntari. Two more matches are scheduled for Sunday in Bucharest: Rapid vs champions Farul Constanţa, and FCSB vs Poli Iaşi. The round ends on Monday with the last 2 matches: Sepsi vs Hermannstadt and Universitatea Cluj vs CFR Cluj. Top of the ranking are currently FCSB, with 12 points out of 4 matches, followed by Universitatea Craiova, with 11 points in 5 games.



    The World Athletics Championships begin on Saturday in Budapest. Romania takes part in the competition with 16 athletes, and the target set by the Romanian Athletics Federation is qualification in 3 finals. Last year, in the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Romanias best performances were a 6th place in hammer throw for Bianca Ghelber, and a 7th place in discus throw for Alin Firfirică.



    Also on Satuday, Romanias rugby team play their last match ahead of the World Cup in France. The Romanians are facing Italy away from home, in San Benedetto del Tronto. In the first test matches this summer, Romania lost 31-17 to the US in Bucharest, and 56-6 to Georgia, in Tbilisi. The first match for Romania at the World Cup is against Ireland, in Bordeaux, on 9 September. (AMP)


  • Sports weekend

    Sports weekend

    Andrea
    Miklos is the fifth Romanian athlete to have secured the qualification to the
    2024 edition of the Olympic Games in Paris. In the 400m race, Miklos came in 2nd
    as part of an international contest held in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. Andrea clocked
    50 seconds and 80 hundredths of a second, that is 15 hundredths of second
    better than the Olympic standard. Sada
    Williams of Barbardos was the winner, with 50 seconds and 34 hundredths of a
    second. Apart from Andrea
    Miklos, having already booked their ticket for Paris are Marathon runner Delvine
    Meringor, swimmers David Popovici and Vlad Stancu, as well as pugilist Lăcrămioara
    Perijoc.


    The World Fencing Championships start in Italy’s Milan this coming
    Saturday. The Championships begin on July 22 with the individual men’s sabre
    and women’s epee events. The finals are scheduled on July 24th. Preliminaries
    for men’s epee and women’s foil events are scheduled on July 23rd. The
    finals are scheduled on Tuesday. The rest of the events take place next week. The
    competition draws to a close on July 30th.


    In news from football, the Romania national
    team has climbed one notch down, from the 47th to the 48th
    place according to the World national teams’ rankings made public by the
    International Football Federation on Thursday. Defending world champions Argentina
    still is at the top of the table. Vice world champions France and Brazil, respectively,
    follow. Romania’s main challenger at the EURO 2024 preliminaries, Switzerland
    has also climbed one notch down as against last month, from the 12th
    to the 13th-place. Of Romania’s other opponents, best-placed is Israel,
    ranking 79th. Kosovo and Andorra are 109th and 154th-placed,
    respectively.


    Matches counting towards the Romanian football Super league’s second round
    are scheduled at the weekend. On Friday, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe go against FC U Craiova
    1948, while UTA play CFR Cluj. On Saturday, Farul Constanţa in Ovidiu play a
    home fixture against FC Voluntari. In Romania’s capital city, the all-time
    Bucharest derby will be played, pitting FCSB against Dinamo Bucharest. On
    Sunday, Poli Iasi play a home game against FC Hermannstadt Sibiu, while Universitatea
    Cluj face Rapid Bucharest, also on home turf. On Monday, FC Botoşani are pitted
    against Petrolul Ploieşti, while Universitatea Craiova play Oţelul Galaţi.


    —–

  • Sports weekend

    Sports weekend

    The European U-19 Women’s Handball Championship
    hosted by Romania draws to a close at the weekend. In this coming Friday’s
    semifinals, Portugal plays Denmark while Romania takes on Hungary. The latter
    team is the winner of the last two European titles in the U-19 category.


    The European U-23 Athletics Championships are
    underway in Espoo, Finland, this coming weekend. The Romanian delegation is
    made of 20 athletes, of which 8 boys and 12 girls.


    The Romanian Super League football championship
    resumes this coming weekend. Otelul Galati is pitted against UTA Arad and Rapid
    Bucharest goes against Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe. On Saturday, holders Farul
    Constanţa travels to Sibiu for a fixture against FC Hermannstadt, while CFR
    Cluj play a home game against Poli Iaşi. In Ploiesti on Sunday the local side Petrolul
    goes against Universitatea Cluj, while in Târgu Jiu, FC U Craiova 1948 takes on
    Bucharest side FCSB. On Monday, FC
    Botosani plays FC Voluntari, while Dinamo Bucureşti faces Universitatea
    Craiova.


    The regular season’s home series is made of 15 rounds and draws to a close
    in early November. The away series follows, scheduled until March 2024. The first
    six teams in descending order compete in Group 1, for the title and for a place
    in the European Cups. The other teams play in Group 2, mainly to avoid
    relegation. The teams that will be finally ranked 9th and 10th
    in Group 2 will be relegated to the second league. Group 2’s 7th and
    8th-placed teams will play their playoff fixtures, taking on the
    second league’s 3rd and 4th-placed teams. The results
    count towards maintaining their place or being promoted to the Super League.

  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week


    Poland is these days playing venue for the European Games underway in Krakow and the Malopolska region. Sunday saw the last athletics events and the Romanian team failed to qualify for the Division One, the competitions elite echelon. In the second division, athletes from Romania ranked only fifth, after Hungary, Ukraine, Lithuania and Slovenia. Only the first three teams have advanced to the competitions first echelon. On Thursday, Claudia Mihaela Bobocea obtained the only Romanian win in the 15 hundred meter race, which she ended in 4 minutes, 8 seconds and 69 hundredths.


    In Division One, where the 15 hundred meter finals took place on Sunday, the second best time was obtained by Spanish athlete Esther Guerrero: 4 minutes, 11 seconds and 77 hundredths, three seconds after Bobocea. The Romanian walked away with gold from the aforementioned race and Radio Romania International has designated her athlete of the week, a title weekly awarded to the best Romanian performance.


    Claudia Bobocea was born in Bucharest on 11 June 1992 and took up athletics in 2007. She has always been among the worlds fastest middle distance runners, although she failed to win medals in major competitions. In 2016 she qualified for the Olympics in Rio but unfortunately came only 51st in the 800 meter race. She became silver medalist in 15 hundred meter race of the European Indoor Championship held in Istanbul this year, after ending the race in 4 minutes, 3 seconds and 76 hundredths, the best time in her entire career so far. Under these circumstances, the show she managed last week in Poland, is part of a headway that will hopefully continue towards the upcoming Olympic Games next year.


    (bill)


  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week


    Poland is these days playing venue for the European Games underway in Krakow and the Malopolska region. Sunday saw the last athletics events and the Romanian team failed to qualify for the Division One, the competitions elite echelon. In the second division, athletes from Romania ranked only fifth, after Hungary, Ukraine, Lithuania and Slovenia. Only the first three teams have advanced to the competitions first echelon. On Thursday, Claudia Mihaela Bobocea obtained the only Romanian win in the 15 hundred meter race, which she ended in 4 minutes, 8 seconds and 69 hundredths.


    In Division One, where the 15 hundred meter finals took place on Sunday, the second best time was obtained by Spanish athlete Esther Guerrero: 4 minutes, 11 seconds and 77 hundredths, three seconds after Bobocea. The Romanian walked away with gold from the aforementioned race and Radio Romania International has designated her athlete of the week, a title weekly awarded to the best Romanian performance.


    Claudia Bobocea was born in Bucharest on 11 June 1992 and took up athletics in 2007. She has always been among the worlds fastest middle distance runners, although she failed to win medals in major competitions. In 2016 she qualified for the Olympics in Rio but unfortunately came only 51st in the 800 meter race. She became silver medalist in 15 hundred meter race of the European Indoor Championship held in Istanbul this year, after ending the race in 4 minutes, 3 seconds and 76 hundredths, the best time in her entire career so far. Under these circumstances, the show she managed last week in Poland, is part of a headway that will hopefully continue towards the upcoming Olympic Games next year.


    (bill)


  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup


    Romanian national football team’s record as part of the EURO 2024 qualifiers has been a no-defeat one, so far. We recall that in March, Romania won both fixtures, against Andorra and Belarus, respectively. This past Friday, in their third match as part of the qualifiers’ Group I, Romania’s match against Kosovo in Pristina ended in a blank draw. In its fourth official fixture on Monday, Romania takes on Switzerland in Lucerne.



    In news from volleyball, Romania’s women’s national volleyball team sustained a 1-3 away defeat by Slovakia this past Saturday in Nitra. It was our national team’s last fixture in Golden League’s group B. With only one win in four matches, Romania is at the bottom of the table on Group B, being outclassed by the Czech Republic, with three wins, and Slovakia, with two.



    In the men’s version of the Golden League, this past Sunday in Brasov, Romania was defeated by Portugal, 2-3. Turkey is at the top of the table, with 5 wins and 14 points. Portugal follows suit, with three wins and nine points all told. Romania has a record of two wins and 7 points, while bottom-of-the-table squad, Denmark, has also two wins but only six points on its record sheet.



    This past Sunday in Paris, world-class Romanian swimmer Constantin Popovici came in first in the second stage as part of Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series circuit, with 464.9 points. Stepping onto the second step of the podium was Ukrainian swimmer Oleksy Prigorov, with 405.15 points, while Russia’s Nikita Fedotov was 3rd-placed, with 402.05 points. The 2022 vice-European champion, the other Romanian in the competition, Cătălin Preda, came in 6th, with 396.75 points. After two stages, in the overall rankings, Constantin Popovici is the leader, with 210 points.



    The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee has made public the Romanian delegation at the European Games scheduled to kick-start in Krakow this week. 150 athletes will take the start in the competition, of which 74 in the women’s competition and 76 in the men’s competition, in 18 sports disciplines. At the Games’ opening ceremony flag bearers will be world and European champion, rower Cătălin Chirilă, and European hammer throw champion Bianca Ghelber.