The Athlete of the Week

Florin Orban, 24.03.2020, 13:53

Cosmin
Gîrleanu is the first Romanian boxer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games. He
is to represent Romania in the 52 kg category. For this achievement, Radio
Romania International has designated him the athlete of the week.

At
an Olympic qualifying tournament held in London last week, Gîrleanu reached the quarterfinals after defeating
Azerbaijan’s Rufat Huseynov in the round of last 16, thus booking his ticket
for the Olympic Games. This is what he told Radio Romania:

I’m
very pleased with what I have achieved and I’m determined to put on a good
performance at the Olympic Games. It wasn’t my best performance, not the most
beautiful boxing, and I didn’t put into practice the tactics I had intended to
adopt before the match, but I fought with all my heart and I went out there and
did what I do best: put on a good fight.

The working group for boxing within the International
Olympic Committee then suspended the European qualifying tournament in London
because of the coronavirus outbreak. The qualifying tournaments due to take
place in Buenos Aires at the end of March and in Paris in May have also been
suspended.

Cosmin
Gîrleanu was born on 3rd September 1999 in Hunedoara, in
north-western Romania. He took up boxing when he was ten years old. He won his
first national title the first time he took part in a cadet competition. He
went on to become a world junior champion in the 46 kg category in 2015 in
Saint Petersburg. Four years later, at the Youth European Championships in Vladikavkaz,
he won the silver medal in the 49 kg category.