Radio România Internațional

Tag: Patzaichin

  • RRI Sport Club

    RRI Sport Club

    Several days ago, one of Romania’s best sports
    clubs, Dinamo Bucharest, celebrated 75 years of activity. On this occasion, the
    club, founded on May 14th 1948, under the auspices of the Romanian
    Interior Ministry, celebrated some of its greatest champions, which along the
    years won no less than 131 Olympic medals, of which 38 of gold, 44 silver and
    49 bronze.




    Among those mentioned there was Romania’s
    double Olympic champion Leon Rotman, gold medalist in the 1000 and 10,000 meter
    canoe races of the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, as well as the latest Olympic
    champion rower Ancuţa Bodnar – who got the Olympic gold in Tokyo 2021, together
    with Simona Radiş from Steaua Bucharest.




    Along the years, Dinamo Bucharest trained numerous
    champions such as the late Nicolae Linca, Romania’s only Olympic champion in
    boxing, or canoeist Ivan Patzaichin, who won four gold medals in Olympic
    contests. The list also includes the great women canoeists, Elisabeta Lipă and Georgeta
    Damian Andrunache, who each reaped five gold medals in the Olympics. Dinamo has
    also produced great teams which along the years compelled recognition in
    various international events. We recall the club’s handball, volleyball and
    rugby teams claimed the European Champions Cups and had a great contribution to
    Romania’s national sides.


    The Club also boasted a famous football side,
    which made it to the semifinals of the European Champions Cup in the 1983-1984
    football season. Six years later Dinamo made it to the semifinals of the UEFA
    Cup Winner’s Cup.


    (bill)

  • RRI Sport Club

    RRI Sport Club

    Several days ago, one of Romania’s best sports
    clubs, Dinamo Bucharest, celebrated 75 years of activity. On this occasion, the
    club, founded on May 14th 1948, under the auspices of the Romanian
    Interior Ministry, celebrated some of its greatest champions, which along the
    years won no less than 131 Olympic medals, of which 38 of gold, 44 silver and
    49 bronze.




    Among those mentioned there was Romania’s
    double Olympic champion Leon Rotman, gold medalist in the 1000 and 10,000 meter
    canoe races of the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, as well as the latest Olympic
    champion rower Ancuţa Bodnar – who got the Olympic gold in Tokyo 2021, together
    with Simona Radiş from Steaua Bucharest.




    Along the years, Dinamo Bucharest trained numerous
    champions such as the late Nicolae Linca, Romania’s only Olympic champion in
    boxing, or canoeist Ivan Patzaichin, who won four gold medals in Olympic
    contests. The list also includes the great women canoeists, Elisabeta Lipă and Georgeta
    Damian Andrunache, who each reaped five gold medals in the Olympics. Dinamo has
    also produced great teams which along the years compelled recognition in
    various international events. We recall the club’s handball, volleyball and
    rugby teams claimed the European Champions Cups and had a great contribution to
    Romania’s national sides.


    The Club also boasted a famous football side,
    which made it to the semifinals of the European Champions Cup in the 1983-1984
    football season. Six years later Dinamo made it to the semifinals of the UEFA
    Cup Winner’s Cup.


    (bill)

  • Farewell to two stars

    Farewell to two stars

    Romanians are grieving as of Sunday, when two valuable personalities passed away: several times canoeing Olympic champion Ivan Patzaichin and actor Ion Caramitru, the director of the Bucharest National Theatre and the head of the Romanian Theatre Union (UNITER).



    “A legend … a champion human being has turned into a star. Ivan Patzaichin has left us. His is a success story, but also a story of decency and strength of character. It is the story of a son of the Danube Delta who gave back tenfold and inspired people to live beautifully, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee announced on Sunday morning. The athlete was 71.



    The winner of seven Olympic medals, four gold and three silver, Ivan Patzaichin also won 22 world championships. As a coach, he carried on his stellar track record, as his students won as many as 150 Olympic, world and European competitions.



    Had this been a regular early autumn day, Ivan Patzaichin would have now given us details about a new edition of the international rowing festival “Rowmania Fest, organised for over 10 years now by the “Ivan Patzaichin – Mila 23 Association and scheduled to take place these very days. Over the years, the event has included the first European childrens triathlon, competitions on the Danube between various Delta communities, roundtables on biodiversity, concerts, fairs and outdoor exhibitions.



    A modest, generous and selfless man, Ivan Patzaichin repeatedly turned down political and administrative posts, and went through the suffering of the recent period with the same smile he had given the world on so many occasions, including a race with a broken paddle that left the world speechless.



    He was the vice-president of the Romanian Kayaking and Canoeing Federation and vice-president of the Romanian Olympic Committee (elected in 1990) and he is the only Romanian athlete to hold the Platinum Wreath Olympic Order.



    Also on Sunday, the great actor Ion Caramitru died, aged 79. He was the director of the National Theatre in Bucharest, played hundreds of parts on stage, in radio drama and on screen. He was a stage director, a professor, a culture minister, the president of UNITER, and a participant in the 1989 anti-communist revolution in Romania.



    During his long and outstanding acting career, Ion Caramitru won countless awards and distinctions, and was made an honorary knight of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1995. He was also awarded as Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.



    Ion Caramitru was declared one of the best 10 actors in the role of Hamlet in a ranking put together by the former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Michael Boyd. As he himself confessed, Caramitrus life was very much shaped by poetry, which he saw as a miracle of language. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Romania at the Olympic Games

    Romania at the Olympic Games

    Athletes from Romania have obtained
    the best performances in individual contests of the 21 editions of the Olympic
    Games they have attended. Teams from Romania have obtained only six medals,
    four in handball competitions, one in volleyball and one in rugby. Most of the
    medals have been claimed by Romania’s male and female gymnasts who stepped onto
    the podium 72 times winning 25 gold medals.






    The first participation of our
    gymnasts in an Olympic contest was in Berlin in 1936 but they started winning
    medals only 20 years later. Elena Leustean became bronze medalist in the floor
    event in Melbourne where the Romanian team also ended in the third position.
    Another bronze was won in Rome in 1960, which was followed by a 16 year pause.






    Then Nadia Comaneci managed a
    perfect ten making the three-digit scoreboard in Montreal obsolete. Nadia has
    won five Olympic gold medals, three of them in Montreal, in the individual
    all-round, balance beam and uneven bars event. Ecaterina Szabo comes next with
    four Olympic titles all of them in Los Angeles in 1984. Three Olympic gold
    medals have been won by Daniela Silivas, Simona Amanar and Catalina Ponor.
    Silivas compelled recognition in Seoul in 1988 when she won the uneven bars,
    beam and floor events.




    Amanar won the vault event in
    Atlanta in 1996 and individual all round and the team contest in Sydney 2000.
    Ponor won the Olympic titles in the beam, floor and teams contests in Athens,
    in 2004. In the men’s competitions, Romania had only one Olympic champion,
    Marius Urzica who won the pommel horse event in Sydney.






    When it comes to the best Olympic
    performances, the Romanian rowers are coming right after the gymnasts with 38
    medals, half of them gold. Romania’s first participation in an Olympic competition
    was in Helsinki, in 1952 and has so far missed only one edition in 1956. The first
    medal was obtained in Munich in 1972 by Petre Ceapura, Ladislau Lovrenschi and
    Stefan Tudor who became bronze medalists in the Men’s Coxed Pairs.




    The women’s contests were
    introduced for the first time in Montreal in 1976 and Romania’s coxed quadruple
    scull stepped onto the podium’s third step. At the next edition held in Moscow
    in 1980, Sanda Toma won gold for Romania in the single scull race. Women rowers
    from Romania dominated the competitions from 1984 to 2004 winning 17 gold
    medals most of them in the Los Angeles Olympics.




    In 1984, Romanian rowers won five
    Olympic titles in the women’s competitions and one in the men’s contests.
    Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu obtained the last Olympic gold for
    Romania in the women’s pairs of the Beijing Olympics while the Romanian eight
    obtained the bronze medal in the 2016 edition in Rio.






    Next in terms of Olympic medals won
    for Romania are athletes with 35 medals, kayak-canoeists with 34 and wrestlers
    with 33 medals. Iolanda Balas is the only Romanian athlete with two gold medals
    in the Olympic Games, in 1960 in Rome and 1964 in Tokyo. Ivan Patzaichin reaped
    four gold medals and three silver in the kayak-canoe races. He and Serghei
    Covaliov compelled recognition in the 1000 meter race of Mexico Olympics in
    1968, in Moscow 1980 and in Los Angeles four years later together with Toma
    Simionov. Patzaichin also won the 1000 meter single race in Munich in 1972.






    Gheorghe Berceanu and Stefan Rusu
    compelled recognition in Greek-Roman wrestling competitions. Berceanu won gold
    in Munich and silver four years later in Montreal while Rusu became silver
    medalist in Montreal and gold medalist at the Olympics in Moscow.




    (bill)

  • Romania at the Olympic Games

    Romania at the Olympic Games

    Athletes from Romania have obtained
    the best performances in individual contests of the 21 editions of the Olympic
    Games they have attended. Teams from Romania have obtained only six medals,
    four in handball competitions, one in volleyball and one in rugby. Most of the
    medals have been claimed by Romania’s male and female gymnasts who stepped onto
    the podium 72 times winning 25 gold medals.






    The first participation of our
    gymnasts in an Olympic contest was in Berlin in 1936 but they started winning
    medals only 20 years later. Elena Leustean became bronze medalist in the floor
    event in Melbourne where the Romanian team also ended in the third position.
    Another bronze was won in Rome in 1960, which was followed by a 16 year pause.






    Then Nadia Comaneci managed a
    perfect ten making the three-digit scoreboard in Montreal obsolete. Nadia has
    won five Olympic gold medals, three of them in Montreal, in the individual
    all-round, balance beam and uneven bars event. Ecaterina Szabo comes next with
    four Olympic titles all of them in Los Angeles in 1984. Three Olympic gold
    medals have been won by Daniela Silivas, Simona Amanar and Catalina Ponor.
    Silivas compelled recognition in Seoul in 1988 when she won the uneven bars,
    beam and floor events.




    Amanar won the vault event in
    Atlanta in 1996 and individual all round and the team contest in Sydney 2000.
    Ponor won the Olympic titles in the beam, floor and teams contests in Athens,
    in 2004. In the men’s competitions, Romania had only one Olympic champion,
    Marius Urzica who won the pommel horse event in Sydney.






    When it comes to the best Olympic
    performances, the Romanian rowers are coming right after the gymnasts with 38
    medals, half of them gold. Romania’s first participation in an Olympic competition
    was in Helsinki, in 1952 and has so far missed only one edition in 1956. The first
    medal was obtained in Munich in 1972 by Petre Ceapura, Ladislau Lovrenschi and
    Stefan Tudor who became bronze medalists in the Men’s Coxed Pairs.




    The women’s contests were
    introduced for the first time in Montreal in 1976 and Romania’s coxed quadruple
    scull stepped onto the podium’s third step. At the next edition held in Moscow
    in 1980, Sanda Toma won gold for Romania in the single scull race. Women rowers
    from Romania dominated the competitions from 1984 to 2004 winning 17 gold
    medals most of them in the Los Angeles Olympics.




    In 1984, Romanian rowers won five
    Olympic titles in the women’s competitions and one in the men’s contests.
    Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu obtained the last Olympic gold for
    Romania in the women’s pairs of the Beijing Olympics while the Romanian eight
    obtained the bronze medal in the 2016 edition in Rio.






    Next in terms of Olympic medals won
    for Romania are athletes with 35 medals, kayak-canoeists with 34 and wrestlers
    with 33 medals. Iolanda Balas is the only Romanian athlete with two gold medals
    in the Olympic Games, in 1960 in Rome and 1964 in Tokyo. Ivan Patzaichin reaped
    four gold medals and three silver in the kayak-canoe races. He and Serghei
    Covaliov compelled recognition in the 1000 meter race of Mexico Olympics in
    1968, in Moscow 1980 and in Los Angeles four years later together with Toma
    Simionov. Patzaichin also won the 1000 meter single race in Munich in 1972.






    Gheorghe Berceanu and Stefan Rusu
    compelled recognition in Greek-Roman wrestling competitions. Berceanu won gold
    in Munich and silver four years later in Montreal while Rusu became silver
    medalist in Montreal and gold medalist at the Olympics in Moscow.




    (bill)

  • True Stories of the Romanian Sports World

    True Stories of the Romanian Sports World


    Ivan Patzaichin was the greatest
    Romanian canoeist of all time. All along his career he reaped 8 world
    titles between 1970 and 1983, as well as 4 Olympic gold medals at the
    five Olympic Games he attended between 1968 and 1984.




    He was born on November 26th
    1949 and in 1967 he signed up with Dinamo Bucharest Sports Club. He
    was inspired by the performance obtained by three boys from his
    native village in the Danube Delta who had earlier become world
    champions in Berlin. Patzaichin obtained his first notable
    performance three months later, when he came in second in the
    national under twenty-one championship. A year later in 1968 he won
    his first Olympic gold in the 1000 meter men’s canoe double race
    together with Serghei Covaliov.


    Patzaichin made history at the Olympic
    Games in Munich in 1972 after
    his paddle had broken right at the beginning of the 1000 meter
    qualifying race. The referees didn’t
    stop the race as regulations required, so Patzaichin had to use what
    was left of the paddle to end the race three minutes after the first
    boat. There was a lot of talk, but the Romanian was eventually
    allowed to compete in the semifinals on September 8th
    when he ended the race three seconds ahead runner-up
    Czech Jiří Čtvrtečka.


    The Romanian was 20 seconds faster
    than the winners of the other series and became the odds-on favourite
    of the finals race on September 9, where he obtained a clear win
    almost four seconds ahead the runner-up, Tamas Wichmann of Hungary.


    By the end of his career Patzaichin
    won two more Olympic gold medals: in 1980 in Moscow and in the 1000
    meter double race of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles four years
    later together with Toma
    Semionov.


    After withdrawing from competitions,
    Patzaichin coached Romania’s kayak-canoe team for many years,
    winning numerous medals in European, world and Olympic contests. He
    later got involved in various projects of promoting the Danube Delta,
    its people and traditions. He is staging traditional boat contests
    and supports various projects on sustainable tourism in the region.



    (translated by bill)