Radio România Internațional

Tag: gymnastics

  • Olympic Profiles

    Olympic Profiles

    The history of Romanian gymnastics has been dominated by one name, Nadia Comaneci. However, since Nadia, Romania has given a series of other talented female gymnasts who boast remarkable performances in top international competitions.

    Among these top-notch gymnasts there is Daniela Silivas, triple Olympic champion in Seoul, in 1988.

    She was born in 1970 in Deva and was one of the first gymnasts to benefit the newly-inaugurated training center there. She took up gymnastics under the guidance of Ioan Carpinisan and in 1980 she became Romania’s champion in school competitions. In 1982 she compelled recognition in the Junior National Championship from where she walked away with gold in the all-round, vault and floor events. She made an excellent debut in international competitions winning the all-round and floor events of the Junior World Cup in Japan. In 1984 at the Junior European Championships in Rimini, Italy, she got gold in the beam event, silver in the uneven bars and floor events.

    She also compelled recognition in the late 1980s in senior competitions. She walked away with gold from the beam event of the World Championships in Montreal in 1985. She also won most of the competitions part of the European Championship hosted by Moscow in 1987: gold in the all-round event, uneven bars, beam and floor and became silver medalist in the vault competition. She also stepped onto the podium’s first step in the uneven bars and floor events of the World Championships in Rotterdam, the same year. She also won the world title with the Romanian team.
    In 1988 she participates in the only Olympics of her career, the one in Seoul, where she stepped onto the podium’s first step three times, winning gold in uneven bars, beam and floor events. She also reaped silver in the all-round event and with the Romanian team.

    Her last competition was the 1989 edition of the World Championships in Stuttgart, where she compelled recognition in the uneven bars, beam and floor events and became silver medalist together with the Romanian side. After withdrawing from competitions, Daniela settled in the USA where she works as a gymnastics coach.

    (bill)

  • November 17, 2024 UPDATE

    November 17, 2024 UPDATE

     

    VISIT Preserving the memory of the victims of wars and totalitarianism, as well as of those persecuted for their faith, for the search for justice and freedom, is a duty and a form of justice, said President Klaus Iohannis on Sunday, in the German Federal Parliament, during a ceremony on the Day of Commemoration of the victims of war and dictatorship. He also highlighted the importance of a stronger and more united European Union, adapted to the challenges of the future. Germany, said President Iohannis, will continue to find in Romania a partner deeply committed to European values, ready to work together to strengthen the Union and for freedom and democracy to be protected and accepted both in the EU and globally. During a visit to Berlin between November 15 and 18, president Klaus Iohannis had talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier about security and the support that Romania and Germany will continue to give to Ukraine. The agenda of consultations with Chancellor Olaf Scholz also included Romania’s full Schengen accession.

     

     

    EU Romania’s PM Marcel Ciolacu has a working visit to Brussels scheduled for Monday. He will have meetings with NATO’s new secretary general, Mark Rutte, with the president-elect of the European Council, António Costa and with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. Marcel Ciolacu is accompanied by a governmental delegation which includes the foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu and the defence minister Angel Tîlvăr. The visit to Brussels comes ahead of the start of a new EU institutional cycle, following the elections held this June, and ahead of the endorsement of the new Strategic Agenda for 2024-2029.

     

     

    OBITUARY The former gymnastics coach Bela Karoly died at the age of 82. The cause of death has not been made public, but he was known to have had various health problems over the past few years. Bela Karoly coached the world-famous Nadia Comăneci, who got the first “perfect 10” in the history of the Olympic Games in Montreal, in 1976, followed by further outstanding performances. Karoly fell out of favour with the communist regime when he criticised the arbitration at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. A year later he defected to the US, where he came to coach a number of American gymnasts, some of whom became Olympic or world champions. Karoly and his wife chose to stay away from the public eye, after being targeted by allegations regarding the brutal methods he used in training.

     

     

    FORESTRY CODE Romania’s new Forestry Code, aimed at preventing wood theft, is waiting for the green light from Parliament’s specialist committees before being discussed in the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this respect. The draft legislation still requires positive reports from the committees on agriculture and legal affairs, after being approved by the committee on environment. Several amendments have been introduced in the process, concerning among other things the planting of green areas around cities, access to all forests on foot or by bicycle and pre-emptive rights to top-quality materials for Romanian furniture producers. The new law will punish theft by seizure of the wood and of the vehicle used in the theft. A National Forestry Council will also be set up, to monitor compliance with ethical and professional standards among forestry staff. The new Forestry Code is a benchmark in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and the government intends to have it endorsed by December.

     

     

    SAVINGS Nearly three-quarters of Romanians are concerned with price increases, and say they will spend less these holidays, according to an EU-wide survey. Moreover, some economists predict a complicated year ahead and call on people to save money. Apart from simple methods like setting a monthly budget and strictly monitoring expenses, experts have a savings solution for low-income categories as well. The Centre for Banking Dispute Settlement recommends the 52-week method, in which a person saves as much money as the number of the week in question, to reach EUR 277 during a year. Nearly 40% of Romanian consumers plan to spend between EUR 100 and 200 for their Christmas shopping. (AMP)

  • November 17, 2024

    November 17, 2024

    VISIT The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis, currently on a visit to Germany, has talks today with the president of the Bundestag, after a meeting with the president of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier yesterday in which they discussed security issues and the support Romania and Germany will continue to provide to Ukraine. Klaus Iohannis will give an address today at a ceremony commemorating the victims of war and dictatorship. The Romanian official’s agenda also includes a meeting with the president of the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, whose party is seen as the most likely to win the early elections due in February 2025. On Friday, Klaus Iohannis had talks with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with whom he discussed Romania’s full Schengen accession, among other topics.

     

     

    EU Romania’s PM Marcel Ciolacu has a working visit to Brussels scheduled for Monday. He will have meetings with NATO’s new secretary general, Mark Rutte, with the president-elect of the European Council, António Costa and with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. Marcel Ciolacu is accompanied by a governmental delegation which includes the foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu and the defence minister Angel Tîlvăr. The visit to Brussels comes ahead of the start of a new EU institutional cycle, following the elections held this June, and ahead of the endorsement of the new Strategic Agenda for 2024-2029.

     

     

    OBITUARY The former gymnastics coach Bela Karoly died at the age of 82. The cause of death has not been made public, but he was known to have had various health problems over the past few years. Bela Karoly coached the world-famous Nadia Comăneci, who got the first “perfect 10” in the history of the Olympic Games in Montreal, in 1976, followed by further outstanding performances. Karoly fell out of favour with the communist regime when he criticised the arbitration at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. A year later he defected to the US, where he came to coach a number of American gymnasts, some of whom became Olympic or world champions. Karoly and his wife chose to stay away from the public eye, after being targeted by allegations regarding the brutal methods he used in training.

     

     

    MEDICAL SCHOOLS In the university cities of Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca (centre), Târgu Mureş (centre), Craiova (south-west), Iaşi (north-east) and Timişoara (west), residency admission exam take place today, with over 10,000 medical school graduates in Romania sitting. They compete over the 4,961 places and 237 positions available, meaning an average 2 candidates per place and 44 candidates per position. The exam is a multiple-choice test with 200 questions in each sub-field and a duration of 4 hours. Romania has been struggling for years with a major shortage of human resources in the healthcare system. According to the National Statistics Institute, at the end of 2023 Romania had 72,740 physicians, i.e. 357 per 100,000 people. This is below countries like Bulgaria (with 480 physicians per 100,000 people), Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.

     

     

    SAVINGS Nearly three-quarters of Romanians are concerned with price increases, and say they will spend less these holidays, according to an EU-wide survey. Moreover, some economists predict a complicated year ahead and call on people to save money. Apart from simple methods like setting a monthly budget and strictly monitoring expenses, experts have a savings solution for low-income categories as well. The Centre for Banking Dispute Settlement recommends the 52-week method, in which a person saves as much money as the number of the week in question, to reach EUR 277 during a year. Nearly 40% of Romanian consumers plan to spend between EUR 100 and 200 for their Christmas shopping.

     

     

    FORESTRY CODE Romania’s new Forestry Code, aimed at preventing wood theft, is waiting for the green light from Parliament’s specialist committees before being discussed in the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this respect. The draft legislation still requires positive reports from the committees on agriculture and legal affairs, after being approved by the committee on environment. Several amendments have been introduced in the process, concerning among other things the planting of green areas around cities, access to all forests on foot or by bicycle and pre-emptive rights to top-quality materials for Romanian furniture producers. The new law will punish theft by seizure of the wood and of the vehicle used in the theft. A National Forestry Council will also be set up, to monitor compliance with ethical and professional standards among forestry staff. The new Forestry Code is a benchmark in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and the government intends to have it endorsed by December. (AMP)

  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week

    After an absence of 12 years, Romania has made its comeback among the medalist countries at the Olympic Games in women’s gymnastics. Ana Maria Barbosu came third in the floor finals but had to resort to a high-level legal battle to recuperate a well-earned bronze medal.

    Last Friday in a ceremony in Bucharest, she was eventually awarded bronze  by the International Olympic Committee. Upon the long-awaited recognition of her performance in Paris, Radio Romania International has designated Ana Maria Barbosu Athlete of the Week.

    After the conclusion of the floor contest, the last women’s gymnastics competition in Paris, the gold medal went to Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, who got a score of 14.166, while the US gymnast Simone Biles ended in the second position. Romanians Ana Maria Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca Voinea came third and fourth respectively, with a score of 13.700, but Ana’s performance was appreciated better by the judges.

    The US gymnast Jordan Chiles initially came fifth with a score of 13.666 but her coach filed an inquiry and the judges revised her score by 0.1 placing her in the third position.

    Sabrina also filed an inquiry but it wasn’t accepted. Subsequently Ana and Sabrina filed an official challenge with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Laussane, which eventually upheld Ana’s challenge. The ruling sent Chiles back to the fifth position and Barbosu got the medal.

    Ana Maria Bărbosu was born on July 27th 2006 in Focşani, eastern Romania. She first compelled international recognition at the 2020 European Championships in Mersin, Turkey, where she won gold medals in all the juniors contests and also with Team Romania.

    Two years later, in the senior competitions of the European Championships in Munich she obtained the best result of the Romanian delegation, a fourth position in the floor event. In 2023 at the European championships in Antalya, Turkey, she was part of Team Romania who ranked fifth and that ensured her qualification for the World Championships in Anvers, that same year. At that competition Team Romania, which also included Ana, managed to occupy the tenth position and qualified for the Olympic Games for the first time in the past 12 years.

    In the end we remind you that you can revisit this report on the Internet at rri.ro, as well as on Radio Romania International’s Facebook profile.

     

    (bill)

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

    The main event of this past week, for Romanian sports’ fans, was the completion of the Olympic balance sheet of the delegation that represented Romania at the Paris Olympic Games. The gymnast Ana Maria Bărbosu received, on Friday, during a ceremony held in Bucharest, the Olympic bronze medal in the floor event, which was awarded to her following the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We remind you that, on August 5, in the Olympic floor final, Ana Bărbosu was, for a few minutes, a bronze medalist, but the American gymnast Jordan Chiles filed an appeal and her mark was increased, thus finishing on third position. The decision of the Lausanne Court annulled the appeal of the American athlete, so Bărbosu thus wins the first Olympic medal of Romanian gymnastics in the last 12 years. Romania had not been on the Olympic podium in artistic gymnastics since 2012, in London, when Sandra Izbaşa won gold in the vault event, Cătălina Ponor won silver in the floor event, and the Romanian women’s team got bronze in the competition of nations.

     

    We pass on to cycling.

    The cycling tour of Romania, which ended on Sunday, was won by the Kazakh road cyclist Ilhan Dostiev, from the Astana Qazaqstan Development Team. He was followed in the final classification of the race by the Italian Davide Toneatti, also from Astana, by the Slovakian Lukas Kubis, from the Elkov – Kasper team, and by Cristian Răileanu, a member of the Romanian national team. Dostiev is the third representative of Kazakhstan to win the race, after Sergei Tretiakov, in 1999, and Vadim Kravchenko, in 2000.

     

    We end with football.

    At the weekend, games were played counting for the sixth stage of the Romanian Superleague football championship. On Friday, Petrolul Ploiesti defeated Unirea Slobozia 2-1 in Clinceni, then, in Craiova, Universitatea won against Gloria Buzău 5-1. On Saturday, FC Botoşani won with the score 1-0 the game played at home against UTA Arad, and Poli Iasi prevailed, also with the score 1-0, in the match played in Bucharest against FCSB. The Bucharest derby of the stage, which took place on Sunday between Rapid and Dinamo, ended in a draw, 1 all.  Monday will see two more games: Universitatea Cluj  takes on Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and Farul Constanţa, Hermannstadt. The match between Oţelul Galati and CFR Cluj has been postponed. Craiova leads the ranking with 14 points. Oţelul comes next, with 11, but with a game in hand. (LS)

  • Olympic Update

    Olympic Update

    The women’s gymnastics contest as part of the ongoing Paris Olympics drew to a close on Monday, August 5, with the last apparatus pieces finals in the beam and floor events. Romanian gymnasts took the start in both events.

    Competing in the beam event was Sabrina Maneca Voinea, who had advanced to the finals with the 5th mark in the qualifiers, 14. 000 points. However, in the final, Voinea fell off the beam and was eventually 8th-placed, the bottom-of-the-table position, with 11. 733 points.

    The winner was Italy’s Alice D’Amato, with 14. 366 points. The floor final followed, with two Romanian gymnasts competing, Ana Bărbosu and yet again Sabrina Maneca Voinea. Ana got the 8th mark in the qualifiers, 13.600, while Sabrina Voinea got the 4th mark, 13.800. With a flawless exercise in the final, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won, with 14. 166 points.

    Stepping onto the second step of the podium was US gymnast Simone Biles. The American got a surprisingly high mark, 14.133 points, having stepped off of the mat several times. At the end of her exercise, third-placed was Ana Bărbosu, who initially got 13. 700 points. Also 13.700 points got Sabrina Voinea who came in 4th because of a flaw in her exercise. Fifth-placed was US gymnast Jordan Chiles who filed an appeal to which the referees agreed.

    With a raised number of points, 13.766, Chiles won bronze. Therefore, the Romanians were denied the opportunity of stepping onto a step of the podium. Sabrina Voinea filed an appeal targeting the starting mark of her exercise but her appeal was unsuccessful.

    Romania last won an Olympic medal in gymnastics at the London Olympics in 2012. We recall back then Sandra Izbaşa won gold in the vault event, Cătălina Ponor walked away with silver in the floor event. While Romania stepped onto the third step of the podium in the nations’ competition.
    Twelve years on, as part of the Paris Olympics, Romania came in 7th in the nations’ competition.

  • Olympic Update

    Olympic Update

    Three Romanian rowing crews on Tuesday qualified to the finals of the Olympic Games in Paris. In lightweight women’s pair defending Olympic champions Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Radiş won the second semi-finals and secured a nail-biting position in the finals.

    After three quarters of the race Bodnar and Radis were fourth placed, but their finish was extraordinary. Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache qualified to the men’s pair final, having come in 3rd in the first semi-final. The men’s quadruple sculls crew made of Ştefan Berariu, Sergiu Bejan, Andrei Mândrilă and Ciprian Tudosă secured their position in the finals, having come in 2nd in the repechage.

    Also qualifying to the final were women’s coxless quadruple sculls and the coxed eight crews.

    Romania’s women’s gymnastics team came in 7th in the nations’ competition final held on Tuesday. The winner was the team of the United States, followed by Italy and Brazil. For the Romanians, it was the first Olympic final since 2012 when, at the London Olympics, the team stepped onto the third step of the podium. Stepping out of the line in the Romanian team was Ana Barbosu who got 13.933 points in the vault event. Also, Sabrina Voinea got 13.900 points in the floor event and 13.800 points in the beam event.

    Romania’s national water polo team has also lost its second game as part of the Olympics, On Tuesday Romania sustained a 8-14 defeat by the United States. Romania’s scorers were Vlad Georgescu and Silvian Colodrovschi, with three goals each, and Andrei Neamţu and Matei Luţescu. Bogdan Rath’s trainees had a bracing start, leading in the first half, 1-nil, 2-1 and 3-2. Yet the US were quick to level the score. Then a dismal period followed, with Romania receiving seven goals in a row and the scoreboard displaying a 9-3 advantage for the United States, from a meagre 3-2 advantage for Romania. The Americans succeeded to maintain their six-goal advantage to the end, although the game became more balanced. We recall Romania previously sustained a 7-14 defeat by vice-Olympic champions Greece.

  • Sports roundup

    Sports roundup

    Attention-grabbing this past weekend was the kick-start of the Olympic Games in Paris. A couple of Romanian athletes have already entered the competition and their results so far are honorably above par.

    Romanian women’s gymnastics team have qualified to the Olympic finals, an absolute first after a disappointing 12-year gap. The Romanian gymnasts came come in 8th in the qualifiers, also succeeding several positions in the individual events. Ana Maria Bărbosu and Amalia Ghigoarţă will compete in the all-around finals. Sabrina Maneca Voinea has advanced to the beam and floor finals. Ana Maria Barbosu has also qualified to the floor final.

    In rowing, Romania’s women’s four crew made of Adriana Adam, Maria Lehaci, Magdalena Rusu and Amalia Bereş has qualified straight to the A Final. The Romanian crew came in second in the second heat, being outclassed by the Netherlands. The first two crews in the heats have secured their participation to the finals, while the following teams, in descending order, will prove their mettle in the repechage. Other Romanian crews have also qualified to the semifinals, such as the women’s pair and the women’s lightweight double sculls, as well as the men’s and women’s pair crews.

    In table tennis, Bernadette Szőcs and Ovidiu Ionescu were unable to go past the mixed doubles quarterfinals Szocs and Ionescu were defeated by South Korea’s Jonghoon Lim and Yubin Shin, 4-nil. In the individual event, Bernadette will carry on competing, having made it to the round of 32.

    In water polo, in their debut game in Paris, the Romanian national team sustained a 7-14 defeat by Greece. The latter team had the upper hand all throughout the game, succeeding a fairly laid-back win.

    In the other Group A matches, Croatia defeated Montenegro, 11-8, while Italy outperformed the United States, 12-8. Romania will next play the United States on July 30. The first four teams in descending order qualify to the quarterfinals.

    Matches counting towards the third round as part of the Romanian football Super League’s were played at the weekend, On Friday, Hermannstadt FC and Unirea Slobozia, drew, one-all, in a fixture hosted by Sibiu team, while FCSB sustained a nil- 2 defeat by Oţelul Galaţi. On Saturday, Gloria Buzău grabbed a 2-1 away win against Poli Iaşi cu 2-1, while in Sfântu Gheorghe, the local side Sepsi and Dinamo Bucureşti drew, 1-all.

    On Sunday, FC Botoşani snatched a 1-nil away win against Farul Constanta, in Ovidiu, while in Cluj, Universitatea succeeded a 2-nil away win against CFR. With a similar number of points, 7, Universitatea Craiova, Oţelul Galaţi and Sepsi are leaders according to the current standings.

  • RRI Sports Club

    RRI Sports Club

    The last major gymnastics competition ahead of the Paris Olympic Games, namely the European Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships, came to an end on Sunday in the Italian town of Rimini. The men’s competition took place between the 24th and the 28th April. One more Romanian gymnast could have qualified for the Games, but the team’s best competitors, the twin brothers Gabriel and Robert Burtănete did not take part in the championship. In the competition, the Romanian gymnasts had a weak performance, failing to reach a single final in the senior events. Romania had one finalist in the junior events, with David Puicea ranking 8th in vault.

    The women’s championships were held last week, with Romanian gymnasts performing better. Romania ranked 4th in qualifiers, a place it retained after the team final. In the individual events, the best result came from Sabrina Maneca Voinea, who won the silver medals in the horizontal bar and floor competitions. She qualified for the floor final with the highest score. In vault, Ana Maria Bărbosu ranked 4th, as did Lilia Cosman in the horizontal bar final. In parallel bars, Romania had no finalist, and this cost Romania its lower ranking in the team classification.

    In Paris, Romania will compete in the Olympic team event after a 12-year hiatus, having failed to do so at the Rio Games in 2016 and the Tokyo Games in 2021, after winning the bronze medal at the London Olympics in 2012. The Romanian gymnast with the biggest chances to win a medal in Paris is Sabrina Maneca Voinea. Apart from the two medals she won in Rimini, she was fourth in the floor competition at last year’s world championships in Anvers. Let us just note that her mother, Camelia Voinea was also a top level gymnast, who won the gold team medal at the world championships of 1987 in Rotterdam and the silver medal at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

     

    At the IFBB European Fitness & Bodybuilding Championships held last week in Santa Susana, Spain, Romania won 105 medals, of which 53 gold, 32 silver and 20 bronze. In the final medal table, Romania had 119 points in the bodybuilding category, 111 in fitness, 161 in the masters category and 148 in the junior contest. Overall, the athletes from the Romanian Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation totalled 539 points and became European champions, followed in the teams’ standings by Slovakia and Ukraine.

     

    At the European Gymnastics Championships in Rimini, Italy, Romania won 2 silver medals, thanks to Sabrina Maneca Voinea, who came out second in the beam and floor finals. In the team competition, Romania finished 4th.

     

    CSM Bucharest failed to qualify for the final tournament of the women’s handball Champions League. In the quarter-finals, the Romanian champions were outplayed by the French club Metz. In the first leg, in Bucharest, the French side won 27 to 24, and in the second leg in France the Romanians were defeated 23 to 29. The other 3 participants in the final tournament in Budapest are Esbjerg (Denmark), Győr (Hungary) and Bietigheim (Germany).

     

    Romania’s football SuperLeague continues, with FCSB already mathematically a champion. In the 8th play-off round, on Friday, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe beat Farul Constanţa 4-1, away from home. On Sunday, CFR Cluj won 3-2 on home turf against Rapid Bucharest, and on Monday Universitatea Craiova outplayed FCSB 2-0. Craiova and CFR rank 2nd and 3rd, with the same number of points.

     

    In the play-out competition’s 8th round, FC Botoşani drew on home turf on Saturday against Voluntari, 0-0, with another draw, 3-3, at the end of the match pitting Universitatea Cluj against Dinamo Bucharest. On Sunday, Petrolul Ploieşti defeated Oţelul Galaţi, 2-1. On Monday, Poli Iaşi won 1-0 against Hermannstadt, and UTA Arad won 3-1 at home against FC U Craiova, securing the top position in the play-out one round before the end of the competition. Dinamo and FC U Craiova, with 22 points each, are facing relegation into the second league.

  • May 3, 2024

    May 3, 2024

     

    EASTER        Orthodox and Eastern-Catholic Christians mark Great and Holy Friday, when they commemorate the Crucifixion and burial of Christ. Tonight believers attend the Vespers of the Taking-Down from the Cross, when an epitaphios is carried in procession to a low table in the church nave which represents the Tomb of Christ, with the epitaphios itself representing the body of Jesus wrapped in a burial shroud. The holy light from Jerusalem is to be brought to Romania on Saturday night and distributed to all parishes. The light is believed to be an Orthodox miracle, taking place every year on Holy Saturday in Jerusalem, at the end of Holy Week, a period of prayer when the faithful revisit the events of the last day in the life of Jesus Christ.

     

    GAZA Negotiations continue for a ceasefire and a new prisoner exchange in Gaza. The talks take place amid threats that Israel would strike the border town of Rafah, where the last Hamas units are located. But Rafah also hosts half of the population of the Gaza Strip, and the international community has warned that a land offensive there would cause a humanitarian disaster. A high-level UN official said the funds for the reconstruction of war-hit Gaza may reach as much as USD 40 bln. The UN Assistant Secretary-General Abdallah al-Dardari told a press conference that the scope of the destruction is unprecedented. Meanwhile, Gaza-related protests carry on in universities in the US. The police cleared a pro-Palestinian protest camp at UCLA in Los Angeles, with at least 200 people arrested. In Washington, president Joe Biden said that while he would always uphold the right to free speech, order must prevail.

     

    FARMERS The European Commission has extended the temporary framework enabling member states to provide state aid more easily to the farmers affected by the impact of the war in Ukraine. The mechanism was introduced in March 2022, after Russia attacked Ukraine, which triggered skyrocketing energy and fertilizer costs. The temporary crisis framework allowed member states to earmark up to EUR 280,000 in aid to affected farms until June 2024, and up to EUR 335,000 to fishery and aquaculture enterprises, as a derogation from the EU’s strict state aid rules. The agriculture ministers in 15 member countries also demanded an increase from EUR 20,000 to EUR 50,000 of the ceiling for the aid granted to an enterprise without consulting Brussels, but the request was dismissed.

     

    DISTINCTION Romanians have received the Grand Cross of the Order of the Second of May from the Community of Madrid, for their integration and for representing a cultural and economic asset for the region. “Apart from being hard-working, Romanians with their effort and courage help us create jobs and opportunities for others,” said the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuos. “The Romanian community in Madrid is not only the largest foreign community here, but also the one that contributes the most to the social and economic development of the local society,” the charge d’affaires with the Romanian embassy in Madrid, Raluca Mihăilă, said in turn. More than one million Romanians are currently living in Spain.

     

    SPORTS Romania came out 4th at the qualifiers for the European artistic gymnastics championships in Rimini (Italy), with Sabrina Voinea ranking 4th at the all-around event. Romania’s team, comprising Sabrina Voinea, Ana Maria Bărbosu, Lilia Cosman, and Amalia Ghigoarţă, was outperformed by Italy, the UK and France. On Sunday the Romanians take part in 4 apparatus finals—Ana Bărbosu in the vault final, Lilia Cosman in the beam final and Sabrina Voinea in the beam and floor finals. Maria Ceplinschi did not attend the qualifiers for health-related reasons. (AMP)

  • Romania at the Olympic Games

    Romania at the Olympic Games

    The history of Romanian gymnastics is dominated by the personality and achievements of Nadia Comăneci. However, since that moment on, a lot of tremendously talented athletes followed in Nadia’s footsteps, some of them with remarkable results. This is the case with Daniela Silivaș, an Olympic champion in 3 events in Seoul, 1988.

     

    She was born in 1970, in Deva, and was one of the first gymnasts trained at the Deva Olympic Centre opened in 1978. Her first coach was professor Ioan Cărpinișan. In 1980, Daniela Silivaș was already the winner of the national school championships. In 1982 she won the gold in the all-around, beam, floor and vault events of the national junior championship. There followed a triumphant international debut, with Daniela Silivas winning the all-around and floor events of the Junior World Gymnastics Championships in Japan.  In ’84, at the Junior European Championship in Rimini, Italy, she walked home with the gold medal in the beam event and the silver in the uneven bars and floor.

     

    Daniela Silivas moved on to become the world leading gymnast of the late ‘80s. In the World Championships in Montreal in ’85, she won the gold in the beam event, while 2 years later, at the European Championships in Moscow, she won the gold in the all-around event, beam, floor and uneven bars, and the silver in the vault event. That same year, at the World Championship in Rotterdam, she took home the gold in the uneven bars and the floor event, and won the world title with Romania’s team.

     

    1988 saw the only Olympic Games participation in her career, in Seoul. She won 3 gold medals on that occasion, in the uneven bars, beam and floor, and 2 silver medals, in the all-around and in the team competitions.

     

    The last major competition she took part in was the 1989 World Championship, held in Stuttgart. Once again, she won the uneven bars, beam and floor events, and added another silver medal in the team competition. After her retirement from competitions, Daniela Silivaș settled in the US, where she is a gymnastics coach.

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club


    The year 2023 was an auspicious one for Romanian sports as compared to the latter period, mainly in certain sports disciplines. Exceptional results were reported for rowing. As for gymnastics and football, we have secured our comeback in the world’s great competitions.



    As usual, the end of the year brings with it the most prominent performers’ rankings, compiled by the sports federations and clubs.



    At the Romanian Rowing Federation, the best athlete title went to Simona Radis, world and European champion in the double sculls event, as well as European champion in the coxed eight event. Radis was also nominated the best member of Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club.



    Dinamo Bucharest’s top-flight athletes are also award-winning rowers. They are Mădălina Bereş, Amalia Bereş and Maria Lehaci Tivodariu. The four had identical results in 2023: They won two gold medals each at the European Championships in Bled. Also, they won one gold medal and one silver medal each at the World Championships in Belgrade.



    For the second year in a row, Cătălin Chirilă has been designated the Romanian Kayak-Canoe Federation’s best athlete. In 2023, Catalin won one gold and one silver medal at the World Championships in Duisburg. It was also in Duisburg that Chirila secured his ticket for the Olympics. Also, Catalin Chirila won a silver medal at the European Games in Poland.



    The Roman Gymnastics Federation’s Executive Committee has designated the year’s best gymnasts. They are Sabrina Maneca Voinea, Andrei Muntean and David Gavrilovici Sabrina Maneca Voinea won bronze in the floor event as part of the European Championships in Antalya. Sabina came in 4th in the vault event, also securing her qualification to the 2024 edition of the Olympics. In artistic gymnastics, Andrei Muntean has qualified to the Olympic Games in Paris. In aerobic gymnastics, David Gavrilovici scooped the Shooting Star award as part of the European Championships in Antalya. Gavrilovici’s record back then was made of three gold medals, in trio, aerobic dance and in the teams’ event.




  • Sports flash


    Romanian womens volleyball team CSM Lugoj had no problem advancing to the Challenge Cups round of 32. CSM Lugoj on Wednesday secured a 3-nil home win against North-Macedonian team Rabotnicki Skopje. The fixture counted as the second leg of the preliminary round. The finalist of the 2022 edition of the Challenge Cup, CSM Lugoj, had also secured a 3-nil win in the first leg on Tuesday, in a match hosted by the Ioan Kunst-Ghermănescu Sports hall in Lugoj. CSM Lugojs most efficient players were Nevena Vukcevic, with 15 points, and Petruţa Orlandea, cu 11 points. In the competitions round of 32, CSM Lugoj face Swiss team Sm Aesch Pfeffingen. The first leg is scheduled on November14, away. We recall that in 2021, also in the Challenge Cups round of 32, CSM eliminated Sm Aesch Pfeffingen, following a 3-2 home win and another win, away, 3-1.



    Also in the Challenge Cup, CSO Voluntari has made a leap forward towards the competitions round of 32. On Wednesday, CSO Voluntari secured a 3-2 away win against Greek opponents AEK Athens. CSO Voluntari came from behind when the scoreboard pointed to a 2-nil for the Greek team. With 26 points, CSO Voluntaris Heidy Casanova Alvarez was her teams top scorer. The second leg is scheduled on October 18 in Dobroesti.



    In news from womens handball, in a Group 1 fixture counting towards the 2024 European Women Handball Championship preliminaries, Romanias national squad defeated Bosnia Herzegovina, 49-`17. With 7 goals scored, Cristina Laslo was the Romania national teams top scorer. In Group 1s other match, Croatia defeated Greece, 32-22. On Saturday, Bosnia-Herzegovina plays Croatia, while Greece goes against Romania. 24 teams will be taking part in the final tournament, the first two teams in each group, plus the best four 3rd-placed teams. Host countries teams, that is Austria, Hungary and Switzerland have qualified straight to the final tournament, just as the defending champion, Norway.



    This coming weekend in Bucharest, gymnasts from 21 countries will participate in a World Cup aerobic gymnastics leg. According to the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, confirming their participation were delegations from all five continents. After the 2011 edition of the European Championships held in Bucharest, the World Cup legs held in 2001 in Bucharest and in Timisoara, in 2013, this is the fourth international aerobic gymnastics competition hosted by Romania.




  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    Gymnastics for many years now has been among
    the sports disciplines that made Romania shine, literally. At the Olympic games,
    for instance, the Romanian gymnasts won 71 medals throughout the years. Of those
    medals, 25 were gold, 20 silver and 26 bronze. Most of the medals were won in
    the women’s version of the competition. There was also the women’s team who won last won the medals for Romania, at the London Olympics in 2012. We recall that back then Sandra
    Izbasa won gold in the vault event, while Catalina Ponor walked away with silver in
    the floor event. The Romanian team
    won bronze, in the nations’ competition.


    However, 2012 was the
    last year when the Romanian gymnastics teams, both men and women, succeeded to qualify to the Olympic Games. The Romanian gymnasts’ performance in
    individual events was also lackluster. In 2023, the Romanian gymnastics teams
    have yet again gained their position among the world’s Olympic-level teams. At
    the recently-held World Championships in Belgium’s Antwerp, the Romanian women’s team qualified to the 2024 edition of the Olympic Games in Paris.


    In the individual
    event, the best performance came from Sabrina Maneca – Voinea. Sabrina was that
    close to stepping onto a step of the podium, since she came in 4th
    in the floor final. Reason enough for Radio Romania International to designate Sabrina
    the Athlete of the week.


    As part of the Antwerp World Championships qualifiers, Sabrina Maneca Voinea competed in the beam and floor events alone, where she was granted 13.666
    points. Sabrina’s grades in the preliminary contest in Belgium were the best among
    the Romanian gymnasts’ performance. Her marks earned Sabrina the qualification
    to the floor finals, as well as the substitute position in the beam final. On
    Sunday, Sabrina was the last one to have fought for the floor medals. The
    winner was the US gymnast Simone Biles, with 14. 633 points. Second-placed was
    many-time world and Olympic champion, Brazil’s Rebeca
    Andrade, with 14.500 points. The bronze medals went to another Brazilian gymnast,
    Flavia Saravia, who got 13. 966
    points. Sabrina came in 4th, with a
    mere 2 tenths of a points from the third place of the podium.


    Sabrina Maneca Voinea was born in Constanta, in the south-east, on June 4,
    2007. Her mother, Camelia Voinea, is also her coach. We recall Camelia Voinea
    was a top-level gymnast who won gold at the World Championships in Rotterdam,
    in 1987 and silver in the Olympic Games in Seoul, in 1988, in the nations’
    competition. Sabrina has been a regular member of Romania’s juniors’ gymnastics
    team since 2017. In 2023, in the seniors’ version of the European Championships
    held in in Antalya in April, Sabrina won bronze in the floor event.