Decorations for the Olympic medalists
The Romanian President has decorated the Romanian athletes who have won medals at the Olympic Games hosted by Tokyo.
Mihai Pelin, 19.08.2021, 14:00
Romania has won four medals at the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo, just like five years ago, in Rio, and three less medals than in the 2012 Olympics hosted by London. The only Olympic gold in Tokyo was brought by the women’s rowing crew made up of Simona Radiș and Ancuța Bodnar, in the double sculls event. Also in rowing, but in the mens four, Mihăiță Țigănescu, Mugurel Semciuc, Ștefan Berariu and Cosmin Pascari won the silver medal. In the mens pair, Marius Cozmiuc and Ciprian Tudosă have also won a silver medal. Ana Maria Popescu also brought Romania a silver medal in the fencing epee event. The nine Romanian athletes who have won medals in Tokyo have been decorated in Bucharest by President Klaus Iohannis.
Simona Radiş spoke on behalf of the athletes at the awards ceremony: “We have discovered what solidarity means, we have received a lot of positive energy and we have been very happy to see that the Romanian society recognized our performance. We are ready to send the message that the Romanian sport has its place in a modern society.”
The Romanian president told the Olympic medalists that everything they did for Romanian sport is admirable, despite countless and unfair obstacles that sometimes emerge.
Klaus Iohannis: “Performance is being built every day and involves constant investment in sports infrastructure, the support and promotion of talents and the full involvement of all government actors.”
At the end of the awards ceremony, President Iohannis added that sport should become a priority again, because it involves the respect for certain values essential for a solid and sound society. Romania ranked 46th in the ranking of medals obtained in Tokyo. The team included 101 athletes, 46 women and 55 men who participated in 17 sports events. The only athlete who could not compete at all was Andrea Miklos, who had some medical problems. Also due to health problems, gymnast Larisa Iordache withdrew from the beam final. Romania’s representatives competed in such competitions as swimming, athletics, rowing, football, artistic gymnastics, 3×3 womens basketball, cycling, wrestling, sports shooting, canoeing, table tennis, boxing, fencing, triathlon, judo, archery and tennis.
The 32nd edition of the Tokyo Summer Olympics took place between July 23 and August 8. Originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting with the second edition of the Olympics (1900) until now, Romania has rarely missed the most important sporting event of the world. By far, Romania’s participation in the 1984 edition of the Olympics hosted by Los Angeles was the most successful. The Romanian athletes obtained 53 medals at that time, of which 20 gold, which then placed Romania 2nd after the US in the medals ranking. (LS)
