Olympic Profiles
Rowers Simona Radiș and Ancuța Bodnar
Florin Orban, 05.09.2024, 13:45
107 Romanian athletes competed in the Paris Games this summer. Of them, 16 came home with medals: the swimmer David Popovici, the weightlifter Mihaela Cambei, the gymnast Maria Bărbosu and 13 rowers. Four members of the Romanian rowing team won two medals each, including one gold and one silver. Simona Radiş and Ancuţa Bodnar won the silver in the women’s double sculls, while Ioana Vrânceanu and Roxana Anghel won the silver in the women’s coxless pair, while also being part of the women’s eight crew who won the gold medal in Paris.
Three years ago, at the Tokyo Games, Radiş and Bodnar won the gold in the women’s double sculls, this being Romania’s only gold medal at that edition of the Games. In 2022 and 2023 they won the world title and went to Paris as favourites for the gold. They clocked the best time in the heats, but got nervous in the semifinals, ranking fourth in the second semis after 1,500 m, which meant they would not have made it to the final, as only the three best-ranked crews would qualify. They had a remarkable finish, however, and won the semifinal. In the final, they were in the lead more than half of the race, but lost in the end to the New Zealand crew by 0.14 seconds. They then formed part of the women’s eight crew who won that race categorically, finishing by 5 seconds ahead of the crew in second place, Great Britain. Apart from Vrânceanu, Anghel, Bodnar and Radiş, whom we have already mentioned, the Romanian women’s eight also included Maria Magdalena Rusu, Maria Lehaci, Adriana Adam, Amalia Bereş and Victoria Ştefania Petreanu.
Let us also note that Ancuța Bodnar was born in Vatra Moldoviţei, in Suceava county, on 25th September 1998. Simona Radiş hails from Botoşani, and was born on 5th April 1999. The two rowers first teamed up in 2019, when they won the silver at the European Championships in Lucerne, Switzerland.
