Romania at the Olympics
Nicolae Linca, the only Olympic champion in Romanian boxing
Florin Orban, 21.01.2026, 13:45
Romanian boxing has had many top stars in its history. Even before World War II, great performances were reported for Romanian boxers. Lucian Popescu won the European professional title 3 times, in 3 different categories: flyweight, featherweight and bantamweight. In this latest category, Toma Aurel also became the continental champion. After the war, Romania also had world champions, both amateur and professional. Names such as Francisc Vaștag, Mihai Leu, Leonard Dorin Doroftei and Lucian Bute are spoken with respect throughout the boxing world.
But Romania had only one Olympic champion in this sport: Nicolae Linca, the winner in the welterweight category at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. In early January we celebrated 97 years since his birth.
Nicolae Linca was born on January 2, 1929, in the village of Cergăul Mare, in Alba County (southern Transylvania). He was affiliated with Dinamo Bucharest. His first major performance came in 1953 in Warsaw, at the first Romanian participation in a European championship. Then, he won the bronze medal, as did his colleagues Nicolae Mîndreanu and Francisc Ambruș. Two years later, at the continental championships in West Berlin, Linca was once again a bronze medalist. The Romanian Mircea Dobrescu in turn won a silver medal.
The surprise came at the 1956 Australian Olympics, when Linca, coached by the excellent Ion Popa, won the welterweight category following sometimes dramatic matches. He won the Olympic title fighting with a fractured hand.
The recognition of Linca’s performances by the communist regime was a mere show. He was decorated with the Order of Labour, second class, and received the title of Master Emeritus in Sports. After the 1989 Revolution, he got ill and survived on a tiny pension in the 1990s. The Romanian sports community was amazed to discover, thanks to the media, that the only Olympic champion in Romanian boxing was struggling to make ends meet. Then came a modest and belated appreciation of his merits, as he was among the first beneficiaries of a life annuity for Olympic champions. He passed away in 2008. (AMP)
