Radio România Internațional

Tag: medal

  • Sports weekend

    Sports weekend

    Three tennis players from Romania this coming weekend will play in the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, an event with almost 9 million dollars in prize money. In the first round on Wednesday, Irina Begu defeated Ann Li of the USA, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.

    Begu will next go against 25th- seeded tennis player, Great Britain’s Katie Boulder. On Thursday, Jaqueline Cristian defeated Russian opponent Veronika Kudermetova, 6-2, 6-3. This coming weekend, Cristian takes on 27th-seeded player, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez. Sorana Cîrstea will also go against another seeded player, US opponent Emma Navarro, 10th-seeded in Indian Wells.

    We recall Cirstea in the first round outclassed Australian challenger Maya Joint, who came straight from the qualifiers, 6-2,7-5.
    At the World Women’s Boxing Championships in Nis, Serbia, due to kick-start this coming Saturday, Romania will dispatch a 10-strong delegation of boxers. European champion in 2019 and vice-word champion in 2022, Lacramioara Perijoc stands the greatest chances to winning a medal. Perijoc’s record also includes European silver medals, in 2023 and 2024. In Nis, Lacramioara Perijoc will compete in the 57-kilogram category.

    Also keeping her hopes alive to winning a medal is Claudia Nechita, a boxer who initially competed in the 57-kilogram category and now fights in the 60-kilogram category. We recall Nechita participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In 2024 at the European Championships in Belgrade Nechita walked home with the silver medal.

    The prize money for the medal is impressive: 100, 000 USD for gold, 50, 000 USD for silver and 25, 000 USD for the bronze medal. 10,000 USD go to the 5th-placed boxer. Prize money all told amounts to almost three million USD.

    Football matches are scheduled at the weekend, counting towards the 30th round, the last one, of Romanian Superleague’s regular season. On Friday, Oţelul Galaţi are pitted against Poli Iaşi, while Farul Constanţa play Universitatea Cluj. In Ploiesti on Saturday, the local side Petrolul play Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. In Sibiu, Hermannstadt take on Rapid Bucharest.

    In the first fixture on Sunday, CFR Cluj play a home match against Gloria Buzău. On Sunday evening in Bucharest, round 30th’ derby will see top-of-the-table team FCSB facing the runner-up team Universitatea Craiova. Bucharest team FCSB are fresh from a 1-3 defeat in the Europa League’s round of 16, in the first leg of the tie against French team Olympique Lyonnais.

    The regular season’s last two fixtures are scheduled on Monday, as FC Botoşani are pitted against Unirea Slobozia, while UTA go against Dinamo. FCSB are at the top of the as-it-stands table, with 53 points. Universitatea Craiova follows suit, with 52 points.

  • 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.

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    Among the great athletes who sadly passed away in 2024 there is former handball legend and head-coach Ştefan Birtalan. He was born on September 25, 1948 in Zalau, northern Romania. When in high school he took up handball, volleyball, basketball and athletics.

    Minerul Baia Mare was among the first teams Birtalan was signed up by. Minerul got first promoted to the second-tier division, Division B, and then to Division A. From 1970 to 1985, with an interruption from 1981 to 1983, Stefan Birtalan played for Steaua Bucharest, a team with which he won the domestic championship title 12 times. With Steaua Bucharest Army Club, in 1971 Birtalan was a European Champions Cup finalist. We recall Steaua won the Cup in 1977.

    In 1974, 1976 and 1977, Birtalan was awarded Romania’s best athlete title. For the Romanian national teams, he had been playing from 1966 when he made his debut with the juniors’ national teams. In 1968, at the age of 20, Birtalan scooped Romania’s best athlete title. He was then selected for the national seniors’ team, when they won the world title in Paris, in 1970, and in Berlin, in 1974, in then the German Democratic Republic. Also in Berlin, in 1974, Stefan Birtalan was designated top scorer, with 43 goals scored.

    Birtalan participated in three editions of the Olympic games. In Munich, in 1972, when Romania walked away with bronze, Birtalan played only one game. However, in 1976, in Montreal, where Romania won the silver medals, Birtalan played in six games and was the competition’s most efficient scorer, with 32 goals scored. In 1980, in Moscow, he participated in an edition of the Olympic Games for the third time around, walking home with a bronze medal. Birtalan played in all six fixtures Romania had on schedule, scoring 23 goals.

    As a head-coach, Ştefan Birtalan began his career in the Italian second-tier league, with Follonica. Upon his return to Romania, he was Radu Voina’s deputy head-coach with Steaua Bucharest. Concurrently, Birtalan trained Romania’s men’s youth national team. From 1991 to 1994, Stefan Birtalan was Steaua’s head-coach. Birtalan then activated in Qatar, as a coordinating head-coach of all national handball teams of the Gulf Country.

    In 2002, Birtalan gave up being a head-coach altogether because of health problems. He was then co-opted by Steaua Bucharest in the handball section’s management staff.

  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    The European Juniors and Youth Weightlifting Championship have been underway in the Polish locality of Raszyn since late last week. The Romanian athletes have already won many medals, in various categories. However, the best performance occurred in the very first day of the competition.

    For the U-23 women weightlifters, in the 49-kilogram category, Cosmina Pană a walked away with gold in the snatch style, with a deadlift of 73 kilograms. In the clean-and-jerk style, Pana won bronze in the 87-kilogram category. Also bronze went to Cosmina Pana, in the combined category, with a deadlift of 160 kilograms.

    Reason enough for Radio Romania International to designate Cosmina Pana the Athlete of the week.

    Entering the competition as part of the European Championships in Poland were 449 athletes of 35 countries. The Romanian delegation is made of 15 weightlifters, of whom 6 participate in the men’s version of the competition, while 9 others participate in the women’s version of the championships in Poland.

    The athlete of the week today, Adriana Cosmina Pană, is one of the Romania delegation’s most experienced competitors.

    She was born in Bacau, in 2001 on December 18. At the age of 13, Cosmina was spotted for her qualities by coach George Călin, of Bacau Municipal Sports Club. Cosmina Pana succeeded her first international performances in 2018 at the European Youth Championships in Italy’s San Donato Milanese. In the 44-kilogram category, Pana won bronze in the snatch style and bronze in the clean-and-jerk style and combined.

    In 2019, at the European Juniors’ Championships in Bucharest Cosmina Pana reiterated her performance. In the 45-kilogram category, Cosmina won bronze in the snatch style and silver in the clean and jerk style, also stepping onto the third step of the podium in the combined category. Also in the 45-kilogram category at the World Juniors Championships in Tashkent, in 2021, she won silver in the snatch style, with a deadlift of 84 kilograms.

    In the seniors’ competition, Cosmina Pana won her first European medals in 2023 as part of the European championships held in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan. Cosmina won silver in the snatch style and combined.

  • August 25, 2024 UPDATE

    August 25, 2024 UPDATE

    WEATHER Monday will be the 14th day of uninterrupted hot weather in Romania. The highs of the day will be ranging between 31 and 38 degrees Celsius, slightly lower on the Black Sea coast. Meteorologists have issued fresh code yellow and orange alerts for large areas in several Romanian counties, whose residents are bracing up for more days of thermal discomfort. 36 degrees Celsius are expected in Bucharest and a rain shower in the evening.

     

    TENNIS A Romanian-Chinese pair made up of Monica Niculescu and Hanyu Guo has won the title of the doubles competition of the WTA 500 tennis tournament in Monterrey, Mexico. The two clinched a 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 win against the odds-on favourites Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Alexandra Panova of Russia in a match that lasted one hour and 34 minutes. Monica and Hanyu got more than 47 thousand dollars and 500 WTA points. This has been Monica’s 12th title in the doubles contests and the second this year after the one in Strasbourg together with Cristina Bucsa of Spain. Niculescu, who will turn 37 on September 25th, has also lost 23 finals in doubles competitions and reaped three WTA titles in singles.

     

    NOMINEE The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, leader of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD), was officially nominated as the PSD candidate for the upcoming presidential election during a PSD congress held in Bucharest yesterday. He was also reconfirmed as president of the Political-Parliamentarian formation, which is presently co-ruling Romania. In a speech delivered at the event, Ciolacu presented the programme with which he wants to win the highest position in Romania. The country’s industry, agriculture and public services are the main axes of his strategy. According to him, the Social-Democrats have managed to win the trust of the Romanians through unity, and he proposes a new type of president, ‘a president for all’. Most of the PSD members who took the floor during the Congress lashed out at their partners in the coalition that is presently ruling Romania and made ironical statements against the country’s incumbent president Klaus Iohannis. The Social-Democrats haven’t won the presidential election since the year 2000. The first round of the presidential ballot is due on November 24 and the second on December 8.

     

    MEDALS Students from Romania have walked away with four medals from the International Geography Olympiad hosted by the Irish capital Dublin over August 19th and 24th. David Mihai Dumitrescu, from the National College ‘Carol l’ in Craiova, south-western Romania, won gold in Dublin and Ian Mitocaru, from the National College in Iasi became silver medalist. Tudor Olariu from the Iasi-based ‘Costache Negruzzi College’ and Iustin Balan from the ‘Garabet Ibraileanu’ National College in Iasi stepped onto the podium third step. According to the Education Ministry in Bucharest, Romania’s team in Dublin has been coordinated by teachers Mihaela and Dorin Fiscutean of the National College in Iasi.

     

    COAL According to the National Institute for Statistics in Bucharest, Romania’s coal production dropped by 20% in the first six months of the year against the same period of 2023. The country’s coal imports have also dropped by 30%, the same report says. According to the estimates of the National Commission for Strategy and Prognosis, this downward trend is likely to continue in the following years as other energy-production facilities will become operational. The EU’s consumption and production of coal last year dropped by 23%, to its lowest level in recorded history, says the EU statistical Office, Eurostat. According to the same sources, the 100 million ton slump in the coal production in a single year is one of the sharpest ever registered in the EU for this type of fuel. With almost two thirds of the entire EU consumption, Germany and Poland were the biggest coal consumers.

     

    TALKS The government in Bucharest will hold talks next week on a first series of measures aimed at supporting the farmers affected by drought. Authorities are considering a series of compensations but also a new support package for the next year. The state will offer an insurance bonus of 3 thousand lei per hectare and amend the conditions needed for getting the Farmer Loan. Suspending the payment of installments for high interest credits until October next year is also being considered.

    (bill)

     

  • August 16, 2024 UPDATE

    August 16, 2024 UPDATE

    Gas – Romania currently has 2.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas stored in underground storages, which accounts for over 88% of the total storage capacity, given that, according to the European directives, the storages must be 85% full on September 1, the Energy Minister, Sebastian Burduja, announced on Friday. According to an Energy Ministry press release “daily, Romania produces approximately 25 million cubic meters of natural gas, consumes about half, and another 10 – 11 million cubic meters are stored”. Sebastian Burduja has also announced that Romania will continue to store natural gas until it reaches 100% of its storage capacity. According to him, the storage of natural gas for the winter season is all the more important since the neighboring Ukraine has announced that it will no longer extend the transit contract of Russian gas on its territory.

     

    Pensions – 4.6 million Romanian pensioners are to receive higher pensions by the end of the month. According to the Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity, Simona Bucura-Oprescu, over 80% of the pensioners are to benefit from recalculated pensions. Roughly two million are to get their pensions higher by 100 Euros. For more than one million the rises will range between 500 and 1,000 lei but 7,700 of them will see more than 3 thousand lei added to their initial pensions. Significant raises will see the people who worked over 40 years and didn’t benefit from the correction index of the past years. According to Minister Bucura-Oprescu, no pension cuts will be operated, and people will receive their recalculated pensions in September.

     

    Gymnastics – The Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu on Friday came into the possession of the bronze medal won in the floor final at the Olympic Games in Paris. The event took place in a ceremony organized on Friday on the esplanade of the Olympic House in Bucharest, following the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We remind you that, on August 5, in the floor final, Ana Maria Bărbosu was awarded the bronze medal for a few tens of seconds, but the American Jordan Chiles filed an appeal and her score was increased, so she finished in third position. Later, Romania also filed an appeal, which was finally approved. “I am happy to be in the possession of this medal and I hope to continue representing Romania at the highest level and to bring it as many medals as possible”, said the athlete.

     

    Migrants – 32 migrants were discovered, on Friday, hidden in a truck driven by a Romanian at the border point at Nădlac II, in Arad county in western Romania. They come, according to the border police, from Iraq, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan and intended to fraudulently cross the border with Hungary in order to reach Western Europe. The truck driver is being investigated for migrant trafficking, and the citizens discovered are being investigated for attempting to cross the border fraudulently. According to the waybill, the driver was transporting furniture on the Romania-Italy route.

     

    Navy Day – ‘Romania has been acknowledged and appreciated by its allies as a solid pillar of regional security and a major contributor to the process of strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense posture on its eastern flank’ the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said in Constanta, on the Romanian Black Sea Coast, where he participated in the events dedicated to Navy Day celebrated on Thursday. According to Iohannis, although we are living in times marked by multiple security challenges, in the context of the war Russia is waging on Ukraine, Romania is today a safe and stable country and its citizens are defended and protected against any potential threat. Thousands of tourists and citizens of Constanta gathered to watch the biggest naval show of the year, which involved the participation of over two thousand sailors and servicemen from Romania and the armed forces deployed here. The event was also attended by 15 military vessels, coast guard patrol boats, F-16 fighters, surveillance aircraft belonging to the USA and France, Puma Naval helicopters and paratroopers. (LS)

  • August 16, 2024

    August 16, 2024

    MEDAL Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu will today receive the bronze medal she won in the floor finals of the Olympic Games in Paris. Barbosu will receive the medal from Octavian Morariu, member of the International Olympic Committee for Romania and Mihai Covaliu president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. We recall the Romanian won the medal on August 5th in Paris, but the US gymnast Jordan Chiles challenged the decision and got a higher mark, which allowed her to end up in the third position. Romania challenged the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), which ruled that the Romanian ended the competition on the third position, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea came fourth and Jordan Chiles fifth. The highest court of arbitration in sports, the CAS, has ruled down the US application to reopen the case.

     

    PENSIONS 4.6 million Romanian pensioners are to receive higher pensions by the end of the month. According to the Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity, Simona Bucura-Oprescu, over 80% of the pensioners are to benefit from recalculated pensions. Roughly two million are to get their pensions higher by 100 Euros. For more than one million the rises will range between 500 and 1000 RON but 7,700 of them will see more than 3 thousand RON added to their initial pensions. Significant raises will see the people who worked over 40 years and didn’t benefit the correction index of the past years. According to Minister Bucura-Oprescu, no pension cuts will be operated, and people will enjoy their recalculated pensions in September.

     

    DAY ‘Romania has been acknowledged and appreciated by its allies as a solid pillar of regional security and a major contributor to the process of strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defence posture on its eastern flank’ Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said in Constanta, on the Romanian Black Sea coast where he participated in the events dedicated to Navy Day celebrated on Thursday. According to Iohannis, although we are living in times marked by multiple security challenges, in the context of the war Russia is waging on Ukraine, Romania is today a sure and stable country and its citizens are defended and protected against any potential threat. Thousands of tourists and citizens of Constanta gathered to watch the biggest naval show of the year, which involved the participation of over two thousand sailors and servicemen from Romania and the armed forces deployed here. The event was also attended by 15 military vessels, coast guard patrol boats, F-16 fighters, surveillance aircraft belonging to the USA and France, Puma Naval helicopters and paratroopers.

     

    WEATHER The National Administration of Meteorology has today issued fresh red, yellow and orange code alerts for hot weather in the entire Romanian territory except for two counties in the east. The extremely hot weather has been chiefly affecting the regions in the country’s west and south-west, where the Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) has exceeded the critical threshold of 80 units. The highs of the day are generally ranging between 30 and 38 degrees Celsius but higher values, between 39 and 41 degrees are being expected in the west, south-west and south. Thunderstorms are expected in the mountainous and hilly regions of Romania. According to meteorologists, the heat wave is going to last for the next couple of days engulfing the entire country, including its capital city whose inhabitants are bracing themselves for more hot days and tropical nights.

    (bill)

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    Romania a couple
    of days ago has yet again confirmed it fully deserved the status it has earned
    among Europe’s top-flight table tennis teams. As part of the European teams’
    championships held in the Swedish city of Malmo, in the men’s version of the
    competition, Romania reached as far as the round of 16, while in the women’s
    version of the event Romania won the silver medals, The latter’s performance is
    a reiteration of the team’s exceptional feat in Cluj-Napoca, in 2021.The
    Romanian table tennis team’s record includes a couple of European titles, with the
    most recent one being won in France’s Nantes, in 2019.


    In 2023 in Sweden, the Romanian line-up was made of Bernadette Szőcs, Elizabeta Samara, Andreea Dragoman and Adina
    Diaconu, who had no problem outclassing Croatia, Serbia
    and Slovenia in the group stage. In the quarterfinals, Romanian succeeded a
    hard-fought win against Spain, while in the semifinal the Romanian team
    defeated France. However, in the
    final, Romania lost to Germany. For the Romanian team, Bernadette
    Szőcs put on the best performance, winning all the games she played until the
    final, when he was defeated by the world’s number 10 table tennis player, Ying
    Han. For her exceptional performance in Sweden and for her crucial contribution to the team’s winning the silver medal, Bernadette Szocs was designated the Athlete of the
    week by Radio Romania International.


    Bernadette Szőcs was born on March 5, 1995, in the central Transylvanian
    town of Targu-Mures. She took up table tennis at the age of 8. For Bernie, good
    results in the cadets and juniors’ competitions were quick to appear. Bernadette
    won several medals in European and world championships, climbing up according to world
    rankings rather rapidly. In 2016, pairing up with Ovidiu Ionescu in the mixed
    doubles event as part of the European championships in Budapest, she came in 3rd.
    In 2017, at the European championships in Luxembourg, Bernadette Szocs won her
    first European title with the team. In 2018, in Montreux, Switzerland she won
    the European Top-16 tournament, an event for Europe’s top-notch table tennis
    players. In 2019 in Nantes, France, she became a European champion in the teams’
    contest. In Munich, in 2022, Bernadette Szocs won the women’s doubles European
    title, jointly with Austrian player Sofia Polcanova, who
    was born in the republic of Moldova, Also in Munich, Bernadette Szocs won the mixed
    doubles’ silver medals, alongside Ovidiu Ionescu. Bernadette is 11th
    placed according to the as-it-stands world rankings.

  • Athletes of the week

    Athletes of the week

    13 Romanian crews with 34 rowers proved their mettle in the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. The Romanian delegation came in 4th according to the final medal rankings. The Netherlands, Great Britain and Italy came in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively. The Romanian delegation walked away with five medals. Two were gold, won by Ancuța Bodnar and Simona Radiș in womens pair and the coxed eight crew, another medal was silver, won by the womens quadruple sculls crew la while two other medals were bronze, won by womens double sculls crew and lightweight womens pair crew, 11 Romanian crews have qualified to the Paris Olympics of 2024.



    Defending Olympic champions Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Radis won the first gold medal on Sunday, in the womens pair event. Bodnar and radis had no problem winning the race with more than a boats length, clocking 6 minutes, 46 seconds and 94 hundredths of a second. Second came in Donata Karaliene and Dovile Rimkute of Lithuania, while bronze was won by Kristina Wagner and Sophia Vitas of the USA, Thanks to their performance and for the manner in which they won the race, Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Radis have been designated the Athletes of the week by Radio Romania International.



    25-year-old Ancuța Bodnar is signed up by Dinamo Bucharest sports club, while 24-year-old Simona Radiș is signed up by Steaua Bucharest sports club. Ancuta and Simona have paired up in the womens pair boat since 2019. The same year, Bodnar and Radis won silver in the European Championships held in Switzerlands Lucerne. The two won another silver medal in September, also in 2019, in the World Championships held in Linz, Austria. Two European titles followed the first one in Polands Poznan, in 2020 and the second one in Varese, Italy, in 2021. In the Tokyo Olympics, also in 2021, Bodnar and Radis won the Romanian delegations only Olympic medal. The two won yet another European title in 2022, in Munich, Germany and a world title, in Racice, the Czech Republic, In May, 2023, Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Radis became European champions in Bled, Slovenia.


  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    One of Romania’s greatest athletes has recently celebrated his 89th birthday anniversary. A time-honored veteran of our Olympic champions, born on July 22nd, 1934, Leon Rotman was the first Romanian to have won two gold medals at the same edition of the Olympic Games, in Melbourne, in 1956.



    Leon Rotman was born in the old Bucharest neighborhood of Dudesti, into the family of a Jewish store-keeper. When he was 15 and still an apprentice with the Timpuri Noi plants, Leon Rotman took up training on the premises of Flacara club’s wrestling hall, being one of the 67-kilgram hopefuls. In 1952, when on the shores of the Floreasca lake, he discovered the nautical sports. Soon afterwards he was granted membership of Dinamo Bucharest Sports club’s kayak-canoe section. Rotman was quick to persuade his coaches that his place was definitely in the men’s canoe single boat. It didn’t take Rotman too long to succeed a string of wins at national level, so much so that he gained membership of the delegation representing Romania at the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956. Back then, three of the four gold medals won in the men’s canoe events went to the Romanian rowers, who had no problem outclassing their challengers from Russia and Hungary, then the dominating powers in the nautical sports.



    Rotman’s s first noteworthy victory occurred in the 10,000m race. The Romanian had problems registering for the event since his boat was slightly bent, an official irregularity according to the competition’s organizers. Rotman was given another boat, but that also had a problem: it was longer than officially stipulated. The canoe was shortened with a saw, then during the race Rotman displayed his force and talent, defeating the favorites of the 10,000m race, the Hungarians János Parti and István Hernek as well as the then Soviet Genady Bukharin. Rotman won the race being 80 meters ahead of the runner-up rower, Janos Parti.



    The 1,000m race followed. This time around as well, Rotman was the favorite. He confirmed, and yet again won the race; with Hungary’s Hernek being Rotman’s runner-up rower. Just like in the 10,000m race, the bronze medal went to Bukharin. The third gold medal won by the Romanian rowers in Melbourne went to Alexe Dumitru and Simion Ismailciuc, in the 1,000m men’s canoe double race.



    In 1960 at the Olympics Games in Rome, the Romanian rowers won only one medal, again through Leon Rotman, who walked home with bronze in the 1, 000m men’s canoe single race.


  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    At the World Rowing Championships held in Bled, Slovenia, the Romanian delegation’s overall record was made of five gold medals and one silver medal. On Saturday, the Romanian women’s four rowing crew, made of Mădălina Bereş, Maria Tivodariu, Magdalena Rusu and Amalia Bereş walked away with gold. Also on Saturday, the Romanian delegation’s only silver medal went to the men’s coxed eight crew, made of Mihăiţă Ţigănescu, Ciprian Tudosă, Florin Arteni, Mugurel Vasile Semciuc, Marius Cozmiuc, Sergiu Bejan, Ştefan Berariu, Florin Lehaci and Adrian Munteanu.



    On Sunday, Ionela Cozmiuc won gold in the lightweight women’s single sculls, while Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Anghel won the world title in the women’s pair. Olympic champions Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Radiş won yet another gold medal in women’s pair event. The Romanian delegation concluded the competition also winning gold in women’s coxed eight event. The winning crew was made of Magdalena Rusu, Roxana Anghel, Adriana Adam, Maria Tivodariu, Mădălina Bereş, Amalia Bereş, Ioana Vrînceanu, Simona Radiş and Victoria-Ştefania Petreanu. According to the nations’ competition, Romania came in second, while Great Britain was at the top of the table.



    All medalists at the 2023 edition of the European Championships fully deserve the title of Athlete of the week. Spoiled for choice as it may be, Radio Romania International opted for designating Ionela Cozmiuc the Athlete of the week, for her exceptional feat in the individual event she won. Halfway through the race, Cozmiuc was third placed, yet her comeback was exceptional; Ionela Cozmiuc won the race, setting a new European record, with a timing of 7 minutes, 32 seconds and 43 hundredths of a second.



    Ionela Cozmiuc was born on January 3rd, 1995 in northern Romania’s Câmpulung Moldovenesc. She is 1.78-meter tall and weighs 57 kilograms. Ionela is signed up by Dinamo Bucharest sports club. Her international record includes the 8th place she won at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and the 6th-place at the Tokyo Olympics in in 2021. Ionela Cozmiuc is a two-time world champion, in Sarasota, the USA, in 2017 and in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv, in 2018. Ionela’s record also includes a bronze medal she won at the European championships in 2019 in Poznan, Poland.




  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    At the World Rowing Championships held in Bled, Slovenia, the Romanian delegation’s overall record was made of five gold medals and one silver medal. On Saturday, the Romanian women’s four rowing crew, made of Mădălina Bereş, Maria Tivodariu, Magdalena Rusu and Amalia Bereş walked away with gold. Also on Saturday, the Romanian delegation’s only silver medal went to the men’s coxed eight crew, made of Mihăiţă Ţigănescu, Ciprian Tudosă, Florin Arteni, Mugurel Vasile Semciuc, Marius Cozmiuc, Sergiu Bejan, Ştefan Berariu, Florin Lehaci and Adrian Munteanu.



    On Sunday, Ionela Cozmiuc won gold in the lightweight women’s single sculls, while Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Anghel won the world title in the women’s pair. Olympic champions Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Radiş won yet another gold medal in women’s pair event. The Romanian delegation concluded the competition also winning gold in women’s coxed eight event. The winning crew was made of Magdalena Rusu, Roxana Anghel, Adriana Adam, Maria Tivodariu, Mădălina Bereş, Amalia Bereş, Ioana Vrînceanu, Simona Radiş and Victoria-Ştefania Petreanu. According to the nations’ competition, Romania came in second, while Great Britain was at the top of the table.



    All medalists at the 2023 edition of the European Championships fully deserve the title of Athlete of the week. Spoiled for choice as it may be, Radio Romania International opted for designating Ionela Cozmiuc the Athlete of the week, for her exceptional feat in the individual event she won. Halfway through the race, Cozmiuc was third placed, yet her comeback was exceptional; Ionela Cozmiuc won the race, setting a new European record, with a timing of 7 minutes, 32 seconds and 43 hundredths of a second.



    Ionela Cozmiuc was born on January 3rd, 1995 in northern Romania’s Câmpulung Moldovenesc. She is 1.78-meter tall and weighs 57 kilograms. Ionela is signed up by Dinamo Bucharest sports club. Her international record includes the 8th place she won at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and the 6th-place at the Tokyo Olympics in in 2021. Ionela Cozmiuc is a two-time world champion, in Sarasota, the USA, in 2017 and in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv, in 2018. Ionela’s record also includes a bronze medal she won at the European championships in 2019 in Poznan, Poland.




  • May 28, 2023

    May 28, 2023

    DAY The Day of the Romanians all over the
    world is a special moment and it has a major emotional, spiritual and cultural
    dimension, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis says in the message conveyed on
    this occasion today. According to him, Romania has a large Diaspora, which
    could represent the force capable of promoting the Romanian values and
    spirituality in a continuously changing Europe. The Day of the Romanians all
    over the world is celebrated in the last Sunday of the month of May in order to
    acknowledge the importance the state attaches to the communities of Romanians
    living outside the country’s borders. In Italy this day has been marked through
    a series of theatre shows. A team of professors and students from the
    University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest has kicked off a project entitled,
    ‘A Caravan for the Romanians all over the world’, which has already had its
    first shows in Rome and is going to give more performances in Lazio, Turin, Padua
    and Venice. In Bucharest, over 300 Romanians from the historical communities
    and from abroad have attended a three-day event entitled ‘Here-There’ unfolding
    under the auspices of the Romanian president. ‘Here-There’ comprised a series
    of events staged by the Department for the Romanians All Over the World jointly
    with the Fine Artists Union in Romania and has brought together artists from
    Romania and abroad from various fields, like art, design, music and literature.








    STRIKE The all-out strike of the Romanian
    teachers is going to continue into the next week with a fresh protest rally in
    Bucharest on Tuesday. Demonstrations took place on Friday in several major
    Romanian cities, as teachers are disgruntled by the government offer of 500 Euro
    bonuses in two installments. The Executive has accepted though a 9% pay rise
    for the auxiliary staff who are going to get bonuses around 200 euros also in
    two installments. Trade unions in the country’s education system have asked for
    a 25% pay rise and for wages of 600 euros for beginners. Employees in the
    primary and secondary education kicked off their protests on May 22nd
    disgruntled with the low wages and working conditions. Trade union leaders have
    threatened with more protests unless their claims are met.






    MEDAL Romanian rower Ionela Cozmiuc has today reaped gold in
    LW1x race of the European Championships in Bled, Slovenia. The Romanian made a
    spectacular comeback and managed to overtake a Greek opponent. The women’s four
    from Romania walked away with gold from the same competition on Saturday, while
    the country’s crew of eight became silver medalist in the men’s competition. We
    recall that last year, Romania walked away with five gold medals and three
    bronze from the European Championships held in Munich, the best Romanian
    performance in the aforementioned competition ever.








    HOLIDAY Catholic believers in Romania are today
    celebrating Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the
    other followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. This holiday, which completes the
    Easter cycle – the Resurrection, the Ascension and the descent of the Holy
    Spirit – is a major Christian event always celebrated on Sundays, fifty days
    after Easter. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands believers, including the
    president of Hungary Novak Katalin, participated in the great pilgrimage on
    Catholic Pentecost in Sumuleu Ciuc, central Romania. The event there brought
    together Catholics from all over the world, most of them Hungarian-speaking
    believers, including from countries like Australia and the United States. The
    pilgrimage in Sumuleu Ciuc boasts a history of 450 years and has at its center
    the miracle-working statue of Virgin Mary in the Franciscan Church there.
    Legend has it that around the year 1567, the Transylvanian Prince John
    Sigismund would have tried to impose Unitarianism to the Roman-Catholic
    believers who managed to keep their faith with the help of the aforementioned
    statue. Hundreds of gendarmes, policemen and firefighters have been deployed
    for the good functioning of the pilgrimage, while the local authorities have
    imposed traffic restrictions.




    (bill)