Athlete of the Week – Ancuta Bobocel

Romanian athlete Ancuta Bobocel came second in the European 10000 meter Cup in London.

Steliu Lambru, 25.05.2018, 13:00

Romanian athlete Ancuta Bobocel came second in the European 10,000 meter Cup in London in 31 minutes, 43 seconds and 12 hundredths. Chemtai Lonah Salpeter of Israel came first in the race ten seconds ahead of Bobocel; Charlotte Arter of Britain ended the race on the third position, 42 seconds after the leader. In the mens event, Romanian Nicolae Alexandru Soare came 11th in 28 minutes, 25 seconds and 38 hundredths.

The womens B race was won by Romanian Roxana Barca, while two other athletes from Romania, Cristina Simion and Andreea Alina Pascu went 5th and 16th respectively. The races counted towards qualification for the European championships in Berlin in 2018. For her performance in London, Radio Romania International has designated Ancuta Bobocel athlete of the week.

Bobocel was born on October 3rd 1987 in Turnu Severin, southwestern Romania. She made her debut in cross-country and hurdles races. In senior competitions she specialized in the 3,000-meter hurdles races and went 23rd in Beijing Olympics. Four years later in London Olympic Games she came 16th while in 2016 in Rio Olympics Bobocel ranked 38th.

In the 2007 World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, our athlete ranked 23rd, while two years later in Berlin she came 17th. In the same year, 2009, she won the European Athletics U23 Championship held in Kaunas, Lithuania and also the Francophony Games in Beirut. Her prize closet also includes a silver medal in the 2009 Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia. Her best timing in the 3,000 meter race was 9 minutes, 25 seconds and 70 hundredths in 2012.