Athlete of the Week on RRI – Wrestler

Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu won gold at the European Wrestling Championships in Rome

Florin Orban, 18.02.2020, 13:45

At the end of last week the
European Wrestling Championships came to a close in Rome, Italy. Romania’s
delegation has exceeded its set target of 2-3 medals. Romanian wrestlers walked
home with 4 medals. The most important one was the gold scooped by Alin
Alexuc-Ciurariu in the 130kg Greek-Roman category. Albert Saritov won silver in
the 97-kg category in free wrestling. Catalina Axente in the 72-kg category and
Nikolai Okhlopkov in 61-kg category each won bronze in the free wrestling
category. For his remarkable performance in Rome, we have designated Alin
Alexuc-Ciurariu Athlete of the Week on RRI.

In Rome, Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu last
Monday knocked out Zurabi Ghedehauri of Russia in the round of 16. In the
quarterfinals, he eased past Sabah Saleh Shariati of Azerbaijan, and in the
semi-finals he eliminated Nikola Kucimi of Ukraine. On Tuesday, the Romanian
defeated Levan Arabuli of Georgia in the final, score 6-1. Let us further note
that, upon his return to Romania, he presented his gold medal before a
28-thousand-strong crowd gathered on National Arena stadium in Bucharest, right
before the kick-off of the match pitting Bucharest rivals Dinamo and FCSB.

Alin Alexuc is a member of Dinamo sports
club in Bucharest. He was born in Botosani and turned 30 on February 3. The
result in Rome marks his career best. Previously Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu won
bronze medals at the European Wrestling Chamionships in Kaspiysk, Russia in
2018, and last year in Bucharest. His immediate goal is to secure qualification
to the Tokyo Summer Olympics. He can achieve that at the pre-Olympic tournament
venued in Budapest in March, or at the tournament to be held in Sofia in early
May. Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu has taken part in the last two editions of the
Olympic Games. In 2016 in Rio he was very close to securing a bronze medal.

(Translated by V. Palcu)