<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Attention-grabbing
\nin 2021 was, among other things, the retirement of several top-flight Romanian athletes.
\nAmong them, fencer Ana-Maria Popescu, tennis player Horia
\nTecau as well as gymnasts Larisa Iordache and Marian Dr\u0103gulescu.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For the fifth time
\nrunning, in 2021 Ana-Maria Popescu has been designated the world’s best epee
\nfencer. According to the final rankings, Ana-Maria Popescu was again at the top
\nof the table. In the last confrontation of her career, in early December, Ana Maria
\nPopescu came in 2nd at the MK Fencing Academy International Epee
\nCup, a World Cup stage event held in Dubai. Ana-Maria Popescu made her
\nretirement public immediately after the contest. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lovers of fencing
\nknow her as Ana-Maria Branza. She was born on November 26, 1984 in Bucharest. Ana
\nMaria first compelled recognition when she stepped onto the third step of the
\npodium at the World Seniors Championships held in 2002 in Lisbon. Ana-Maria was only 18 back then. All hopes were
\npinned on the then up-and-coming Romanian fencer ahead of the Athens Olympics
\nin 2004. However, she unassumingly cane in 16th. Ana-Maria Popescu’s
\nstunning comeback occurred at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when she walked
\naway with silver, at that time the Romanian delegation’s best performance at
\nthe Olympics in China. However, 2016 was the year when Ana-Maria Popescu’s
\ncareer best happened; at the Rio Olympics, the Romanian won gold with the epee
\nnational team. Ana-Maria Popescu then went on to win silver in the women’s
\nsingles as part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tennis player Horia
\nTecau is Romania’s best men’s doubles tennis player. For the seventh time running,
\nin 2021 Tecau advanced to the Champions Tournament, jointly with the German Kevin
\nKrawietz. In Turin, Tecau and Krawietz succeeded a win and sustained two
\ndefeats. Horia Tecau announcement his retirement shortly afterwards. At the previous
\neditions of the Champions Tournament, Tecau twice competed alongside Sweden’s Robert
\nLindstedt. Horia Tecau also paired up with the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer four
\ntimes. Tecau and Rojer emerged as winners of the tournament in 2015. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Horia Tecau was
\nborn on January 19, 1985 in Brasov. In 2002, pairing up with Florin Mergea, Tecau
\nwon the Wimbledon men’s doubles juniors’ title. From July 2008, Horia Tecau had
\nbeen placed among the world’s top 100 doubles tennis players. Since November 2009,
\nHoria Tecau has been placed among the world’s top 50 tennis players. And that’s all from Sports today. You can also
\naccess our sports items at rri.ro and on Facebook. Tecau then constantly ascended
\naccording to the world’s men’s doubles rankings, reaching as far as the
\nrunner-up position in November 2015. Tecau won 38 men’s doubles ATP tournaments
\nand played 24 finals. Pairing up with the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer, Tecau twice
\nwon Grand Slam tournaments, in Wimbledon, in 2015 and the US Open, in 2017. In
\n2012, Horia Tecau won the mixed doubles version of the Australian Open jointly
\nwith Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US. At the Rio Olympics in 2016, pairing up
\nwith Florin Mergea, Tecau walked away with silver. Horia Tecau has been a full-time
\nmember of Romania’s Davis Cup team since 2003. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The best Romanian gymnast
\nin recent years, Larisa Iordache put an end to her career in 2021. Larisa was
\nborn on June 19, 1996, in Bucharest. Her debut in major seniors’ competitions
\noccurred in 2012, when in the singles and the teams’ competitions she won gold in
\nthe floor event and silver in the beam event, as part of the European Championship
\nin Brussels. In the nations’ competition in 2012 at the London Olympics, Larisa
\nIordache won bronze. At the European Championship in Moscow in 2013, Larisa won
\ngold in the beam event and stepped onto the second step of the podium in the
\nall-around, floor and vault events. At the World Championship in Antwerp, also
\nin 2013, Larisa Iordache won bronze in the floor event. In 2014, Larisa
\nIordache won gold in the European Championship held in Sofia, in the floor
\nevent and the nations’ competition. She also won silver in the beam event and
\nbronze in the vault event. Then Larisa Iordache won silver in the Nanning World
\nChampionship in the all-around and floor events. In 2015, Larisa Iordache won
\nbronze in the all-around event as part of the World Championship in Glasgow. 2016
\nwas rather uneventful for Larisa because of an injury. In 2017 she resumed
\nparticipation in competitions and won bronze in the beam event as part of the European
\nChampionship held in Cluj. Yet Larisa Iordache’s stunning comeback occurred in December
\n2020; at the European Championship in Turkey’s Mersin she won gold in the beam
\nand floor events and two silver medals in the all-around vault event and,
\nrespectively, in the nations’ competition. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 Larisa
\nIordache qualified to the beam final with the fourth-best score. However, Larisa
\nwas unable to compete in the final because of a health condition. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One
\nof the longest-lasting gymnasts of all time, Marian Dragulescu, was born on December
\n18, 1980, in Bucharest Marian Dr\u0103gulescu retired from competition in 2021, at
\nthe age of 41. He has the most impressive record among Romanian men gymnasts. Marian
\nwon one gold medal and two other bronze medals at the Athens Olympics in 2004. He
\nthen won eight gold and two silver medals in World championships. In European Championships,
\nMarian Dragulescu won 18 medals, of which ten gold, six silver and two bronze
\nmedals. Dragulescu was designated the Best Athlete of the year in 2005 and 2009.
\nThere even is a vault exercise bearing Marian Dragulescu’s name. (EN)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leading Romanian competitors have bowed out in 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40940],"tags":[29748,30725,34027,29455,28939],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-122275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-doubles","tag-epee","tag-finals","tag-gymnastics","tag-tennis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n