Radio România Internațional

Tag: silver medal

  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week

    The Olympic Games have come to an end in Paris with Romania ranking 23rd in the medal standings. Our athletes walked away from Paris with nine medals, three gold, four silver and two bronze. Most of these medals, seven, were obtained in the first week of contests. In the second week, athletes from Romania reaped two medals. Gymnast Ana Barbosu won bronze in the floor event and weightlifter Mihaela Cambei stepped onto the podium’s second step after coming second in the 49-kilogram category. In order to designate the athlete of the week, Radio Romania International had to choose between the two athletes. We eventually chose Cambei for the sensational way in which she competed.

    Mihaela’s performance has been described by experts as perfect. In the snatch event she lifted 89, 91 and 93 kilograms, while in the jerk event she first lifted 106, then 110 and eventually 112 kilograms. According to Agerpres news agency, the athlete got injured in the second attempt of the jerk event. She eventually totaled 205 kilograms, but lost to Zhihui Hou of China who managed to lift 117 kilograms, set a record in the jerk event of the aforementioned category, and eventually scored a total of 206 kilograms. Surodchana Khambao of Thailand came third with a total of 200 kilograms.

    Mihaela Valentina Cambei was born in Bacau county, eastern Romania on November 18, 2002. At the age of only 16 she became bronze medalist in the 48-kilogram category in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

    She compelled international recognition in competitions when she walked away with silver from the jerk event of the World Championships held in Bogota in 2022. She dominated the European Championships in 2023 and 2024 by repeatedly breaking the continental record in the jerk event. At the European Championships held in Sofia this spring, Cambei was designated the Best European Weightlifter of the year 2023.

    (bill)

  • The Athlete of the Week

    The Athlete of the Week

    The Czech capital city
    Prague last week played host to the European Judo Championships. No less than
    13 Romanian judoka travelled to Prague, of which eight took part in men’s
    version of the contest and five in the women’s version of the championships.
    Vladut Simionescu and Corina Stefan tested positive for COVID-19, so as a
    last-ditch solution they were denied the participation in the competition.
    Under the circumstances, all hopes were pinned on former European champion and
    world vice-champion Andreea Chitu as a prospective medal winner. Andreea met
    everybody’s expectations in Prague. She won the silver medal, in fact the only
    medal won by the Romanian delegation that competed in Prague. Reason enough for
    Radio Romania International to designate Andrrea Chitu the Athlete of the week.


    In the championship’s round of 16, Andreea Chitu
    defeated Belgium’s Amber Ryheul. In the quarter final, Chitu outclassed Russian
    challenger Natalya Kuzyutina, while in the semifinals the Romanian overpowered
    Spain’s Ana Perez. However, in the final, Italy’s Odette Giufrida defeated
    Andreea Chitu. The bronze medals went to Charline van Snick of Belgium and Estrella
    Lopez Sheriff of Spain.


    Andreea Chiţu was born on May 7, 1988, in Bolintin-Vale,
    a locality in the vicinity of Bucharest. Andreea is signed up by the Army
    Steaua Sports club. Andrea won two silver medals, one in the 2012 edition of
    the world championship in Chelyabinsk, Russia, and the other one in Astana
    Kazakhstan, in 2015. In Paris in 2011, Andreea Chitu stepped onto the third
    step of the podium in a world championship. Andrea also won five medals in
    European Championships. She walked away with gold in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in
    2012 and in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2015. Then in Budapest in 2013, Andreea Chitu
    won silver, while in Montpellier, France, in 2014, she won the bronze medal.
    Andreea also won bronze in Russia’s Kazan in 2016. Andreea Chitu twice got
    through to the Olympic Games, in London, in 2012 and in Rio, in 2016, where she
    came in 7th according to the final rankings.


    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)

  • The Athlete of the Week

    The Athlete of the Week

    The Czech capital city
    Prague last week played host to the European Judo Championships. No less than
    13 Romanian judoka travelled to Prague, of which eight took part in men’s
    version of the contest and five in the women’s version of the championships.
    Vladut Simionescu and Corina Stefan tested positive for COVID-19, so as a
    last-ditch solution they were denied the participation in the competition.
    Under the circumstances, all hopes were pinned on former European champion and
    world vice-champion Andreea Chitu as a prospective medal winner. Andreea met
    everybody’s expectations in Prague. She won the silver medal, in fact the only
    medal won by the Romanian delegation that competed in Prague. Reason enough for
    Radio Romania International to designate Andrrea Chitu the Athlete of the week.


    In the championship’s round of 16, Andreea Chitu
    defeated Belgium’s Amber Ryheul. In the quarter final, Chitu outclassed Russian
    challenger Natalya Kuzyutina, while in the semifinals the Romanian overpowered
    Spain’s Ana Perez. However, in the final, Italy’s Odette Giufrida defeated
    Andreea Chitu. The bronze medals went to Charline van Snick of Belgium and Estrella
    Lopez Sheriff of Spain.


    Andreea Chiţu was born on May 7, 1988, in Bolintin-Vale,
    a locality in the vicinity of Bucharest. Andreea is signed up by the Army
    Steaua Sports club. Andrea won two silver medals, one in the 2012 edition of
    the world championship in Chelyabinsk, Russia, and the other one in Astana
    Kazakhstan, in 2015. In Paris in 2011, Andreea Chitu stepped onto the third
    step of the podium in a world championship. Andrea also won five medals in
    European Championships. She walked away with gold in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in
    2012 and in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2015. Then in Budapest in 2013, Andreea Chitu
    won silver, while in Montpellier, France, in 2014, she won the bronze medal.
    Andreea also won bronze in Russia’s Kazan in 2016. Andreea Chitu twice got
    through to the Olympic Games, in London, in 2012 and in Rio, in 2016, where she
    came in 7th according to the final rankings.


    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)

  • Sports Club

    Sports Club

    Romania’s women’s table tennis team has walked away with silver medals at the recently-held European Championships in Russia’s Ekaterinburg. In this past Tuesday’s finals, Romania sustained a 3-nil defeat in the game against Germany.



    It was all too obvious Germany was way better than Romania. In the first game, Ying Han thrashed Bernadette Szocs, 3-nil. After having wasted a set ball in the first leg, conceding a narrow 12-10 defeat, the Romanian simply couldn’t take the heat for the rest of the game, and was trounced in the following two sets, 11-1.



    However, a more balanced game was the one pitting Xiaona Han against Elisabeta Samara. In the first two sets, Samara conceded defeat to her German opponent, 12-10, also losing the third set, 11-5. The only Romanian tennis player to have been a whisk away from winning a game was Daniela Dodean, who took on Petrissa Solja. Dodean lost the first two sets, yet she braced up and won the other two, only to concede defeat in the crucial set, 11-9.


    The bronze medals went to Russia and Ukraine.



    In Ekaterinburg, Romania’s lineup, whose manager was Viorel Filimon, was made of Elizabeta Samara, Daniela Dodean, Bernadette Szőcs, Camelia Poştoacă, Alina Diaconu and Cristina Hîrîci. We should also note that Daniela Dodean was back into the game following a two years’ maternity leave. Ahead of the European table tennis championships in Ekaterinburg, Dodean had won all the five fixtures for Romania.



    In Russia, Romania lost her fourth final in the last six years, after the ones in 2010, 2011, 2013, all fixtures against Germany. However, Romania’s record includes three European titles in the women’ s version of the competition, in 1992, 2002 and 2005.


    Individual events are well under way at the ongoing European championships.