Radio România Internațional

Tag: Chirila

  • January 5, 2023 UPDATE

    January 5, 2023 UPDATE

    FLU
    The Bucharest-based National Centre for the Supervision and Control of
    Transmissible Diseases with the National Institute of Public Health on Thursday
    announced two deaths caused by the flu in Romania. The country’s Health
    Minister Alexandru Rafila had earlier presented during a news conference the
    situation of diagnosed infections at national level but the authorities decided
    not to announce an epidemic because the situation isn’t dramatic yet in spite
    of the growing number of cases. According to Rafila the flu season has expanded
    a few more weeks and the infection rate is presently at 37% with a peak
    expected around January 15th and 10th. The number of
    infections will go down after that date and the Education Ministry says that
    students will go back to classes after the winter holiday on Monday according
    to the schedule. Face-covering is recommended not imposed but the infected
    students will not be allowed to attend classes.








    FUNDS Romania absorbed 11.3 billion EUR last
    year, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă has announced, saying this is the highest
    level of absorption since Romania accessed European funding. In 2023, Romania
    wants to maintain or exceed the current level, which will require solidarity,
    dialogue with social partners, coordination between ministries and political
    stability.








    TENNIS Romanian tennis player Irina Begu on Thursday qualified for the
    quarterfinals of the Adelaide International 1, an Australian tennis tournament
    with more than 826 thousand US dollars in prize money. The Romanian secured a
    6-3, 6-0 win against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. Begu, 32, will be up against
    Veronika Kudermetova of Russia. Also on Thursday Romanian Sorana Cirstea
    conceded defeat to the competition’s odds-on favourite, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.








    MOLDOVA Moldova’s relation with Romania has nothing to do with our
    country’s relations with Russia, good or bad, but rely on our way of moving
    forward and on our appreciation for the values that bind us, Moldova’s
    ambassador in Bucharest, Victor Chirilă, has said. Romania is a country
    that will help the Republic of Moldova in any situation, no conditions
    attached, the Moldovan diplomat also told a radio show. At the same time,
    relations with Bucharest are on an upward trend. We’ve seen just how
    important Romania is for Moldova, not just last year, but also during the
    pandemic. Romania stood with us and provided us with assistance to cope with
    the pandemic, ambassador Chirilă went on to say. The Moldovan diplomat
    also recalled Romania’s support in the first months of 2022, when the Republic
    of Moldova faced an energy crisis. In turn, Romania’s ambassador in Chișinău,
    Cristian-Leon Țurcanu, said that the two countries share a special relation
    based on the unity of language, history and culture. The Romanian
    diplomat in turn mentioned the initiative of the Foreign Ministers of Romania,
    Germany and France to launch the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova,
    a multidimensional instrument of support allowing the international community
    to help Moldova. Ambassador Țurcanu promised Bucharest would continue to
    actively get involved at European and international levels to muster a robust
    financial, technical and political assistance for the Republic of Moldova.








    FUNERAL Over 100 thousand Christians on
    Thursday attended the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict 16th at the Vatican.
    Benedict passed away on December 31, 2022, nearly 10 years after stepping down
    from the Holy See. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Rome, Italian
    president Sergio Mattarella and Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
    as well as representatives of royal houses, ministers and international
    officials attended the event. Representatives of other Christian churches,
    including the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as leaders of other religions
    attended the funeral. The Romanian Orthodox Church was represented by the
    Romanian Bishop of Italy, Siluan. Pope Francis presided the mass, while
    cardinal Giovanni Battista Re was the main celebrant at the altar. The funeral
    sermon was delivered by Pope Francis.


    (bill & VP)

  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week

    Romania ranked 9th at the multisport European
    Championships hosted several days ago by Munich. Athletes from our country
    walked away with eight gold medals, two silver and five bronze from the aforementioned
    competition. Most of the medals were won by Romania’s rowers in the
    competition’s first week. In the second week, hammer thrower Bianca Ghelber,
    canoeist Catalin Chirila and table tennis player Bernadette Szocs reaped gold
    for Romania.




    Table tennis player Bernadette Szőcs, silver medalist in the
    mixed doubles contest together with Ovidiu Ionescu has been designated Athlete
    of the week by Radio Romania International.




    Bernadette Szőcs was born on March 5th 1995 in Târgu
    Mureş central Romania and took up table tennis at the age of 8. She managed to
    obtain good results in European and world competitions and these results pushed
    her ahead in world rankings. Because she was refused the support she needed
    from the sport authorities in Romania, in 2010 Szocs considered the idea of
    moving to Norway and competing under the Norwegian flag. Eventually she decided
    to give up her emigration plan and in 2016 at the European Championships in
    Budapest the athlete came third in the mixed doubles together with Ovidiu
    Ionescu and a year later at the championships in Luxembourg she obtained her
    first European title with the Romanian team.




    In 2018 in Montreux, Switzerland she compelled recognition
    in the European Top‑16 tournament, a competition, which brings together the
    best athletes on the continent. A year later in Nantes, France, she became
    European champion again with the Romanian team. She is presently ranking 32nd
    in the world ranking, where in 2019 she occupied the 14th position.




    (bill)

  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week

    Romania ranked 9th at the multisport European
    Championships hosted several days ago by Munich. Athletes from our country
    walked away with eight gold medals, two silver and five bronze from the aforementioned
    competition. Most of the medals were won by Romania’s rowers in the
    competition’s first week. In the second week, hammer thrower Bianca Ghelber,
    canoeist Catalin Chirila and table tennis player Bernadette Szocs reaped gold
    for Romania.




    Table tennis player Bernadette Szőcs, silver medalist in the
    mixed doubles contest together with Ovidiu Ionescu has been designated Athlete
    of the week by Radio Romania International.




    Bernadette Szőcs was born on March 5th 1995 in Târgu
    Mureş central Romania and took up table tennis at the age of 8. She managed to
    obtain good results in European and world competitions and these results pushed
    her ahead in world rankings. Because she was refused the support she needed
    from the sport authorities in Romania, in 2010 Szocs considered the idea of
    moving to Norway and competing under the Norwegian flag. Eventually she decided
    to give up her emigration plan and in 2016 at the European Championships in
    Budapest the athlete came third in the mixed doubles together with Ovidiu
    Ionescu and a year later at the championships in Luxembourg she obtained her
    first European title with the Romanian team.




    In 2018 in Montreux, Switzerland she compelled recognition
    in the European Top‑16 tournament, a competition, which brings together the
    best athletes on the continent. A year later in Nantes, France, she became
    European champion again with the Romanian team. She is presently ranking 32nd
    in the world ranking, where in 2019 she occupied the 14th position.




    (bill)

  • August 21, 2022 UPDATE

    August 21, 2022 UPDATE

    WEATHER The weather will be rather cool in Romania’s
    south-western regions, with a cloudy sky and showers. In the rest of the
    regions it will be hotter than usual with a higher heat and discomfort index
    mainly in the country’s south-east. Heavy rainfalls are expected particularly
    in the southern Carpathians and their surroundings as well as thunderstorms and
    hail. The highs of the day are ranging between 23 and 33 degrees centigrade.
    Yellow and orange alerts for unstable weather have been issued until Monday
    night for several counties in the center, south, west and north-west of the
    country.








    COVID-19 Over 2,000 new Covid-19 infections have been
    reported in the past 24 hours in Romania out of 99 hundred tests conducted,
    sources with the Health Ministry have announced. 7 related fatalities have also
    been reported while 34 hundred people are presently being treated in hospitals.
    Face covering is no longer mandatory in schools and no special protection measures
    are to be taken, the prefect of Bucharest Toni Grebla has announced. Health
    Minister Alexandru Rafila had earlier recommended the use of masks in schools
    adding though that the only protection measure is the proper ventilation of the
    classrooms.








    MEDALS Romanian athlete Catalin Chirila won bronze
    in the 500 meter race at the Canoe Sprint European Championships in Munich. A
    world vice-champion in Halifax, Canada, Chirila also reaped gold in the 1000 meter
    single canoe race in Munich. Another two athletes from Romania, Constantin
    Popovici and Catalin Preda walked away with gold and silver from the high diving
    event of the European Aquatics Championships held in Rome. Popovici made
    history as the first European champion in this event with 455.70 points. Preda,
    who took the lead after the first three rounds, eventually ended second with
    436.20 points. Italian Alessandro De Rose came third in the aforementioned
    event. Constantin’s namesake David claimed two European titles and a world
    record in the pool and has been designated the best athlete in the men’s events
    at the present edition of the Aquatics in Rome.






    SALES Hybrid and
    electric car sales almost doubled in Romania in the first 7 months of the year
    as compared to the same period of 2021. According to the Association of Car
    Producers and Importers (APIA) out of the 15 thousand green vehicles sold in
    the period between January and July this year, 47% were in the full hybrid
    category, nearly 40% were electric vehicles while the rest plug-in hybrid
    electric vehicles.






    VOLLEYBALL Romania’s national men’s volleyball side
    have qualified for the European Championships due next year after a 3-0 win
    against Albania in their last away game in the preliminary group G. Romania
    ranks first in the group with 5 wins and 15 points followed by Switzerland with
    12 points, Bosnia-Herzegovina 4 points and Albania with two. The seven winning
    sides of the preliminaries as well as the best five runner-ups are qualified
    for the final tournament. Romania won a European title in 1963, two silver
    medals in 1955 and 1958 and two bronze in 1971 and 1977. At the 2019 edition of
    the European Championship our side ranked 21st.








    DIPLOMACY According to the spokeswoman for the
    Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, Russia will have a proper response
    to Bucharest’s decision to declare persona non grata an employee of its embassy
    in Romania. Zakharova says that Romania has declared the Russian employee
    persona non grata ‘without any reason and under exaggerated pretexts’. The
    Romanian Foreign Ministry says that a decision to expel the Russian employee
    has been made because the person was involved in activities incompatible with
    the Vienna Convention of 1961 concerning diplomatic relations, a generic
    definition for espionage allegations.




    (bill)

  • August 21, 2022

    August 21, 2022

    BANK According to Central Bank forecasts the annual
    inflation rate in Romania will slightly go down only in the last quarter of the
    year. The bank says the annual inflation rate ceased to rise in June and is
    expected to fluctuate for a while then to slightly go down for the next three
    quarters. Inflation has been forecast to stay around 13.9% in December exceeding
    the initial predictions of 12.5%. According to the Central Bank, inflationist
    pressures are to be seriously felt in April next year, after schemes aimed at capping
    electricity prices will have ended. In an attempt to keep inflation at bay, the
    bank decided to raise the key interest rate from 4.47% to 5.5%.










    HOLIDAY Seaside resorts on the Romanian Black Sea
    coast are functioning at full capacity these days in spite of the high accommodation
    prices. Prices are expected to go down next week under a yearly programme
    entitled ‘Seaside for everyone’ due to kick off on August 28th.
    According to representatives of the Employers Association in the Romanian
    tourism, roughly 100 hotels are getting ready to accommodate tourists for
    prices 75% lower than at the peak of the season.










    MEDALS Romanian athlete Catalin Chirila won bronze
    in the 500 meter race at the Canoe Sprint European Championships in Munich. A
    world’s vice-champion in Halifax, Canada, Chirila also reaped gold in the 1000 meter
    single canoe race in Munich. Another two athletes from Romania, Constantin
    Popovici and Catalin Preda walked away with gold and silver from the high diving
    event of the European Aquatics Championships held in Rome. Popovici made
    history as the first European champion in this event with 455.70 points. Preda,
    who took the lead after the first three rounds, eventually ended second with
    436.20 points. Italian Alessandro De Rose came third in the aforementioned
    event. Constantin’s namesake David claimed two European titles and a world
    record in the pool and has been designated the best athlete in the men’s events
    at the present edition of the Aquatics in Rome.


    VOLLEYBALL Romania’s national men’s volleyball side
    have qualified for the European Championships due next year after a 3-0 win
    against Albania in their last away game in the preliminary group G. Romania
    ranks first in the group with 5 wins and 15 points followed by Switzerland with
    12 points, Bosnia-Herzegovina 4 points and Albania with two. The seven winning
    sides of the preliminaries as well as the best five runner-ups are qualified
    for the final tournament. Romania won a European title in 1963, two silver
    medals in 1955 and 1958 and two bronze in 1971 and 1977. At the 2019 edition of
    the European Championship our side ranked 21st.








    DIPLOMACY According to the spokeswoman for the
    Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, Russia will have a proper response
    to Bucharest’s decision to declare persona non grata an employee of its embassy
    in Romania. Zakharova says that Romania has declared the Russian employee
    persona non grata ‘without any reason and under exaggerated pretexts’. The
    Romanian Foreign Ministry says that a decision to expel the Russian employee
    has been made because the person was involved in activities incompatible with
    the Vienna Convention of 1961 concerning diplomatic relations, a generic
    definition for espionage allegations.




    (bill)

  • August 20, 2022 UPDATE

    August 20, 2022 UPDATE

    Inflation — In Romania, the annual inflation rate will have minor fluctuations until the end of September and then it will take a downward path for 3 quarters, according to the National Bank of Romania – BNR. It expects the inflation rate to reach 13.9% in December. On the other hand, the BNR warns that the forecasts regarding the economic activity for next year are significantly revised downwards. According to the Central Bank, next year Romania will experience a significant drop in private consumption, under the influence of the gradual increase in interest rates on the population’s loans and deposits. The government has recently adopted the first budget rectification of 2022, a positive one, which takes into account an economic growth of 3.5%, the budget revenues for the first six months and the budget execution during this period. The Finance Minister, Adrian Caciu, claims that the budget deficit can be kept under control and that the target of 5.84% for the end of the year is achievable. The Fiscal Council, an independent body that analyzes the sustainability of fiscal and budgetary policies, warned that the rectification could lead to a figure exceeding the target deficit of 7% of GDP, because the government allegedly overestimated the receipts and underestimated part of the expenses.



    Film – Romanian films were awarded prizes at the Sarajevo International Film Festival, which ended on Friday evening with the awards ceremony, the Romanian Cultural Institute – ICR reports. The animation film “Amok”, directed by Balazs Turai (Hungary, Romania, 2022), which was screened for the first time in the region, won the Heart of Sarajevo award for best short film. “My Muslim Husband”, directed by Daniel Bărnuţi and Alexandra Lizeta Bărnuţi, received the “Movies that matter” award in the CineLink Industry Days section. “Freedom”, the newest film directed by Tudor Giurgiu, producer Oana Giurgiu, received the Jury Award sponsored by Debee Studio, at the CineLink Work In Progress section. The list of winners from the CineLink section also includes producer and director Oana Giurgiu, who won the EAVE Award (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) in the CineLink Co-Production Market Awards section. Ten Romanian cinematographic productions were presented at the 28th edition of the Sarajevo festival, organized in partnership with ICR.



    Kayak — The Romanian athlete, Cătălin Chirilă, won the gold medal in the men’s canoe single 1000m final, on Saturday, at the European Kayak-Canoe Championships in Munich. Chirilă (24 years old), a world champion in this event, at the beginning of the month, in Canada, led the entire race, being followed, in the final ranking, by the Czech Martin Fuksa, and the Italian Carlo Tacchini. The latest European medal in the canoe single 1,000 m event had been won in 2011, in Belgrade, by Iosif Chirilă (silver), and the latest European title had been won by Florin Mironcic, in 2006, in Racice. Chirilă (with the CSA Steaua club) will participate, on Sunday, in the canoe single 500m final, in which he is world vice-champion in Halifax (Canada). Also on Saturday, the Romanian athlete Oleg Nuţă ranked eighth in the men’s canoe single 200m final.



    Volleyball – Romanias womens national volleyball team defeated the team of Israel 3-0 on Saturday in Piatra Neamţ, in their debut match in Group A of the 2023 European Championship preliminaries. On Sunday, the other match in the group will take place between Croatia and the Faroe Islands. Romania will play the next match on August 24, in the Faroe Islands. The teams ranked on the first two positions will qualify for the final tournament.



    Covid – More than 3,860 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been registered in the last 24 hours in Romania, after 16,900 tests were made, the Health Ministry announced on Saturday. 21 deaths were also reported. On the other hand, the protective mask will not be mandatory in schools and no special sanitary measures will be taken, says the prefect of Bucharest, Toni Grebla. Upon checking the stage of preparations for the beginning of the school year, the prefect explained that no additional measures have been discussed that would be imposed in educational units, in the context of the increase in the number of Covid cases. Recently, the Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said that he recommended the use of protective masks in schools, but the only additional protection measure would be the ventilation of the classrooms. (LS)

  • Sports Flash

    Sports Flash

    Romanian athletes are attending several championships presently underway in Europe. Italian capital Rome is these days hosting the European Aquatics Championship and Romanian swimmer David Popovici is the odds-on favourite in the 100 and 200 meter free-style races, where he is world champion. Popovici will also be competing in the 400 meter free-style race and in the 4×100 meter relay race.



    Until August 21st, Munich in Germany is hosting the multi-sport European Championships, which is to include competitions in several disciplines such as athletics, beach volleyball, kayak-canoe, cycling, rowing, artistic gymnastics, bouldering, table tennis and triathlon. Romanian athletes stand good chances to win medals in rowing and kayak-canoe competitions. Defending European champions, the Romanian double scull team made up of Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis stands good chances to win a medal in the aforementioned the competition and so does the Romanian eight, winner of the latest European Championship hosted by Italy.



    We also recall that the Romanian rowers of the mens four and eight walked away with silver medals from the Italian competition and so did our womens double. In the lightweight womens single scull race, where Gianina Beleagă is the European vice-champion, Romania is being represented by Ionela Cozmiuc, as Beleagă has become part of the Romanian four and eight in the same competition.



    Cătălin Chirilă stands good chances to win a medal for Romania in the 500 and 1000 meter canoe single races as one week ago he reaped a world title in the 1000 meter race and a silver medal in the 500 meter race in Halifax, Canada. His prize closed also includes a gold medal he won together with Victor Mihalachi in 1000 meter race of the European Games in Minsk and a bronze one with the same team mate in the latest edition of the European championships hosted by Poznan in Poland.



    A delegation of 20 athletes is representing Romania at the European Gymnastics Championships. We recall that Romania won silver at the European championships in Mersin Turkey in 2020. Larisa Iordache won gold in the beam and floor events and silver in the vault event. In the same competition Romanias junior team obtained gold in all the events as well as in the team competition.



    Ana Maria Bărbosu won five medals in various events of the aforementioned competition while Maria Ceplinschi won silver in the individual all-round event and the floor event and Andreea Preda walked away with bronze from the beam event. In the mens competition only one medal for Romania in Turkey. Gabriel Burtanete won gold in the vault event of the junior competition.


    (bill)

  • Sports Flash

    Sports Flash

    Romanian athletes are attending several championships presently underway in Europe. Italian capital Rome is these days hosting the European Aquatics Championship and Romanian swimmer David Popovici is the odds-on favourite in the 100 and 200 meter free-style races, where he is world champion. Popovici will also be competing in the 400 meter free-style race and in the 4×100 meter relay race.



    Until August 21st, Munich in Germany is hosting the multi-sport European Championships, which is to include competitions in several disciplines such as athletics, beach volleyball, kayak-canoe, cycling, rowing, artistic gymnastics, bouldering, table tennis and triathlon. Romanian athletes stand good chances to win medals in rowing and kayak-canoe competitions. Defending European champions, the Romanian double scull team made up of Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis stands good chances to win a medal in the aforementioned the competition and so does the Romanian eight, winner of the latest European Championship hosted by Italy.



    We also recall that the Romanian rowers of the mens four and eight walked away with silver medals from the Italian competition and so did our womens double. In the lightweight womens single scull race, where Gianina Beleagă is the European vice-champion, Romania is being represented by Ionela Cozmiuc, as Beleagă has become part of the Romanian four and eight in the same competition.



    Cătălin Chirilă stands good chances to win a medal for Romania in the 500 and 1000 meter canoe single races as one week ago he reaped a world title in the 1000 meter race and a silver medal in the 500 meter race in Halifax, Canada. His prize closed also includes a gold medal he won together with Victor Mihalachi in 1000 meter race of the European Games in Minsk and a bronze one with the same team mate in the latest edition of the European championships hosted by Poznan in Poland.



    A delegation of 20 athletes is representing Romania at the European Gymnastics Championships. We recall that Romania won silver at the European championships in Mersin Turkey in 2020. Larisa Iordache won gold in the beam and floor events and silver in the vault event. In the same competition Romanias junior team obtained gold in all the events as well as in the team competition.



    Ana Maria Bărbosu won five medals in various events of the aforementioned competition while Maria Ceplinschi won silver in the individual all-round event and the floor event and Andreea Preda walked away with bronze from the beam event. In the mens competition only one medal for Romania in Turkey. Gabriel Burtanete won gold in the vault event of the junior competition.


    (bill)

  • May 22, 2022 UPDATE

    May 22, 2022 UPDATE

    PROGRAMME Romania has kicked off
    a social programme called ‘Seaside for Everyone’, which allows tourists to find
    accommodation in hotels on the Romanian Black Sea coast for prices starting
    from 7 Euros per night. Representatives of the employers associations in the
    field say that prices are almost 70% lower than in the summer holiday season.
    Over 4 thousand accommodation facilities have been made available for tourists
    who can also pay with holiday vouchers. The most sought-after Black Sea resorts
    are Mamaia, Eforie Nord, Neptun and Saturn. The ‘Seaside for Everyone’
    programme is presently at its 40th edition and is the only social
    programme in Romania entirely supported by the business environment.








    UKRAINE Parliament in Ukraine
    on Sunday extended the martial law and general mobilization for 90 days, until
    August 23rd after the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky had
    earlier signed a decree in this respect.Zelensky also called on the Ministers of Defence from 40 countries due to
    convene in a virtual conference on Monday to approve the delivery of Multiple
    Launch Rocket Systems to the Ukrainian army. According to the European site
    Politico, the United States, which has this kind of weapon, is reluctant to
    offer it to Ukraine as it would enable the latter to hit targets deep into the
    Russian territory as the missiles fitting these systems have a range of up to
    500 kilometers. Zelensky request comes against a stepped up Russian onslaught
    in eastern Ukraine, the invaders’ main target after the defeat suffered around Kyiv.
    The Russian troops are pressing the Ukrainian forces mainly in Lugansk, which
    together with Donetsk are forming the so-called Donbas. Clashes in Donbas have
    intensified once Russia managed to take over Mariupol after a violent siege of
    nearly three months during which the city was almost entirely destroyed.
    According to Reuters, Russia is using aviation, artillery, tanks and rockets
    along the entire eastern front. In the meantime, Polish president Andrzej Duda spoke before the Ukrainian Parliament on Sunday becoming the first foreign
    president talking to the Ukrainian legislature since the beginning of the war
    Russia started in Ukraine on February 24th. The Polish official said
    that only Ukraine had the right to decide its future and that he would campaign
    for its EU membership.








    DAVOS After a two
    year recess caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s political and economic
    elite again convenes in Davos, a forum expected to be dominated by the war in
    Ukraine, AFP reports. Organisers of the renowned World Economic Forum late last
    year announced that a meeting in person would be held in the mountain resort of
    Davos over May 22 and 26, after several online editions caused by the pandemic.
    A wide range of topics are high on the agenda, from climate changes to energy
    prices and fears about a potential global food crisis, gender equality,
    football and the metaverse. However, the world economic forum in Davos has
    become famous for the talks held outside of its official programme. Among the
    most famous events it saw along the years was the first ministerial meetings
    between the South and North Korea in 1989 or the talks on Apartheid between the
    president of South Africa, Frederik De Klerk and the then dissident Nelson Mandela.
    This year’s edition of the Davos forum is expected to bring together roughly
    25 hundred participants, including numerous company directors and over 50 heads
    of state and government.








    MEDAL Romanian Catalin Chirila on
    Sunday became silver medalist in the one thousand meter finals of the men’s
    canoe single event of the 2022 ICF Kayak-Canoe Sprint in Racice, the Czech
    Republic. The gold medal went to the Czech Martin Fuksa, multiple world
    champion and vice champion, while Hungarian Balasz Adolf came third. On
    Saturday Chirila, who came eleventh in the one thousand meter race in Tokyo
    Olympics, stepped onto the third step of the podium in the competition’s 500
    meter race. Chirila, who together with his compatriot Victor Mihalachi, had
    come fifth in the one thousand meter race in Tokyo, announced after the Olympic
    Games that he would focus on individual races.






    (bill)