Athlete of the week
Judoka Alexandru Bologa
Radio România Internațional, 10.09.2024, 13:45
The Summer Paralympic Games drew to a close in Paris on Sunday. Every four years, the competition is organized immediately after the Olympic Games. The system has been operational since 1988, when the Korean edition of the Games was held. However, the history of the Paralympic competitions dedicated to the disabled began earlier, in 1948, with a series of competitions dedicated to the WWII British veterans.
Officially, the inaugural edition of the Paralympic Games was held in Rome in 1960. The competition has evolved ever since, so much so that in 2024 in Paris the event gathered almost 4,500 athletes and more than two million spectators.
In 2024, representing Romania were two visually impaired judokas, Alexandru Bologa and Daniel Vargoczki. Joining them were Eduard Novak and Theodor Matican in cycling, as well as Camelia Ciripan and Bobi Simion in table tennis. The star of the Romanian delegation was the 2012 Paralympic champion Novak. At the opening ceremony, the Romanian delegation’s veteran athlete, 45-year-old Camelia Ciripan was the flag bearer. However, the Romanian delegation’s top performer was judoka Alexandru Bologa, who walked away with gold in the 73-kilogram category.
Reason enough for Radio Romania International to designate Bologa the Athlete of the Week.
Alexandru Bologa was born on November 7, 1995, in Salaj County, in the north. He was diagnosed with a complete visual impairment at the age of 7. As an athlete, he first took up swimming, then he moved on to judo. His first great performance occurred in 2013, when, at the age of 18, Bologa walked away with silver at the World Juniors’ Championships held in Eger, Hungary. In 2016 he won the Open in Heidelberg and the Grand Prix in Birmingham. Bologa made his Paralympic debut at the 2016 edition of the Games in Rio de Janeiro, winning bronze in the 60-kilogram category.
In Tokyo in 2021, Alexandru Bologa reiterated his performance, while at the Paris Paralympics in 2024 he exceeded everyone’s expectations and won gold. He entered straight the semifinals, defeating Uzbek opponent Shohruh Mamedov, through ippon. In the semifinal, Bologa outclassed, through waza-ari, Brazil’s Harlley Damiao Pereira Arruda. In the final, Bologa defeated, through ippon, Kazakhstan’s Yergali Samei.
