Romania at the Olympic Games – Participation Records
Four Romanian athletes competed in six editions of the Olympic Games
Florin Orban, 01.09.2026, 13:45
Romania was among the first countries to be represented at the Olympic Games. Romanian athletes made their Olympic debut in 1900 at the Paris Games, when Gheorghe Plagino competed in the shooting event, specifically the trap shooting competition. It was also in Paris, in 1924, that Romania sent its first official delegation and won its first medal—a bronze in rugby. Since then, several Romanian athletes have set participation records, and four of them have excelled, competing in six editions of the Games each.
Lia Manoliu was the first athlete in the world to compete in six editions of the Games, from 1952 to 1972. She was born on April 25, 1932, in Chișinău, then part of Romania and now the capital of the Republic of Moldova. In 1949, at just 17 years old, she broke the national record in the discus throw. Her name would remain at the top of Romanian discus records until 1971. On the international stage, she had to wait until 1960 to achieve recognition, when she won the bronze medal at the Rome Olympics. She repeated this feat in 1964 in Tokyo, where, during the competition, she briefly broke the Olympic record. She would break the Olympic record again in 1968 in Mexico City, but this time she would win the gold medal.
Another Romanian athlete, Nicoleta Grasu, competed in every edition of the Games from 1992 to 2012 and also represented Romania in the discus throw. She was born in the village of Secuieni, in Neamț County, on September 16, 1971. Her first international achievement was qualifying for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. This was followed by years in which her most notable results were achieved in Grand Prix competitions. She did not win a medal at the Olympic Games. She won a bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, and in 2010, at the European Championships in Barcelona, she finished second.
Shooter Sorin Babii, a specialist in the pistol event, competed in six consecutive Olympic Games between 1984 and 2004. Sorin Babii was born on November 14, 1963, in Arad. He began competitive sports in 1977 at the Arad Textile Works (UTA) club. In 1985, in Osijek, he became a continental champion with the Romanian team in the ISSF 50-meter pistol event. In 1988, in Copenhagen, he achieved his first individual victory at a European Championship in the air pistol event, a feat he repeated in Zurich in 1995 in the ISSF 50-meter pistol event. His greatest victory, however, remains his 1988 win in Seoul, where he claimed the Olympic title in the free pistol event. He won his second Olympic medal in 1992 in Barcelona, where he took third place on the podium in the air pistol event.
The Romanian athlete with the most impressive Olympic career remains rower Elisabeta Lipă. She was born on October 26, 1964, in the town of Siret, Suceava County. In 1984, at the Los Angeles Olympics, she won her first Olympic gold medal in the double sculls, alongside Marioara Popescu. In 1988, she returned from the Seoul Games with a bronze and a silver medal. In 1989, she made her mark for the first time in the single sculls, winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Bled. She dominated the single sculls for several years, also winning the Olympic title in Barcelona in 1992. Elisabeta Lipă then joined the famous Romanian coxed eights crew, which dominated continental, world, and Olympic competitions for years. Alongside her teammates, she went on to win three more Olympic gold medals: in 1996 in Atlanta, in 2000 in Sydney, and in 2004 in Athens. Elisabeta Lipă was named Athlete of the 20th Century by the International Rowing Federation. (MI)
