Romania at the Olympic Games
Romania’s Olympic Games history in team sports.
Florin Orban, 18.05.2026, 13:45
Romanian athletes have won 318 medals at the Olympic Games over the years. Of these, 93 were gold, but none in the games. The closest to the first step of the Olympic podium were the handball players, who won silver in 1976, in Montreal. At that time, the Romanian team, coached by Nicolae Nedef, came from the position of world champion and went into the competition as favourites to win the gold. Romania easily won Group B, with straight wins and only one draw, against Czechoslovakia. Group A, where the competition was more tight, was won by the Soviet Union team, tied on points with West Germany and Yugoslavia, but with a better goal difference. The USSR and Romania met in the final. The Soviets had a simple plan, consisting of neutralising playmaker Cristian Gațu and top scorer Ștefan Birtalan, a plan that worked. Birtalan, who averaged six goals per match, this time scored only three times, and the USSR won 19 to 15. Back in Romania, the disappointment was endless. Romania, who had won the world championship four times, had just won bronze in Munich, in 1972, and later had to settle for the third place on the podium in 1980, in Moscow, and again in 1984, in Los Angeles.
In 1980, at the Moscow Games, Romania’s volleyball team also won a place on the podium. Romania was part of Group B, which it finished in second place, after Poland. In the semifinals, Romania was defeated by the Soviet Union team and again faced Poland in the third place match, which they won 3-1 to bring Romania the only Olympic medal in volleyball to date.
Speaking of team sports, let’s not forget the first medal ever won by Romania at the Olympic Games, which was in rugby, in 1924, in Paris. Only three teams took part in that tournament: France, the United States and Romania. The participation of Romania made it possible for the tournament to be held, and the Romanian side had the honour of playing the opening match on May 4, 1924, on the Olympic Stadium in Colombes, against the host team. France won 59 to 3, scoring 13 tries. Next Romania faced the United States and were strongly supported by the Parisian public, who viewed the Americans as France’s main rivals for the Olympic title. Public support did not help, however, and Romania lost 39 to nil to a team that would go on to win the competition, defeating the host country France 17 to 3 in the final. Romania was in 3rd place, thus receiving the bronze medal, the first in the history of Romania’s participation in the Olympic Games.
