Olympic profiles

Rower Elisabeta Lipa

Florin Orban, 13.11.2019, 13:45

Romanian rowing as of late has regained its leading position according to the as-it-stands European rankings. At the European Championships held in the Swiss city of Lucerne last week, the Romanian delegation came in 4th according to the nations competition. All told, the Romanians won six medals, of which one was gold, four silver and one bronze.

Recent bracing results reported for Romanian rowing are mainly the outcome of the rowers determination. However, no less important was the contribution of the Romanian Rowing Federation, headed by the multiple Olympic champion Elisabeta Lipa.

Elisabeta Lipa was born on October 26, 1964, in the town of Siret, Suceava County. At the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, Lipa won her first gold medal in the double scull event, jointly with Marioara Popescu. In 1988, at the Olympic Games in Seoul, Elisabeta Lipa won a bronze and a silver medal. For the first time in her career, Lipa compelled recognition in a singles event, winning gold at the World Championships in Bled. For many years in a row, Elisabeta Lipa dominated the singles event, and went on to win the Olympic title in Barcelona in 1992. Later, Elisabeta Lipa was part of the famous Romanian coxed eight crew that for many years dominated European, world and Olympic events. Jointly with her colleagues, Elisabeta Lipa won three more gold Olympic medals, in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, the USA, in 2002 in Sydney, Australia, and in 2004 in Athens.

The International Rowing Federation designated Elisabeta Lipa the Athlete of the 20th century.

In Romania, Elisabeta Lipa was granted the rank of Police superintendent on December 1st, 2004, a rank equivalent to the rank of Army General

Elisabeta Lipă had a short stint as Minister of Youth and Sports, between November 2015 and January 2017.