Gold medals for Romanian rowers
Romania has scooped three gold medals at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam.
Daniela Budu, 31.08.2026, 14:00
At the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, Romanian athletes secured three gold medals, two of them on Sunday, the final day of competition, in the women’s 8+ and mixed 8+ events.
In the women’s 8+, the crew consisting of Cristina Drugă, Geanina Juncanariu, Ancuţa Bodnar, Maria Lehaci, Magdalena Rusu, Amalia Chelaru, Adriana Adam, Simona Radiş and coxswain Victoria Petreanu led the race from start to finish. Setting the pace early on, the Romanian crew dominated the course to cross the line first, capturing gold and setting a new world record time of 5.51 minutes. With this victory, Romania ties the United States for the most world titles in the flagship women’s event, with 11 each. Great Britain took silver (05:52.76) and the United States claimed bronze (05:53.76).
Also on Sunday, Romania struck gold in the mixed 8+ event. The crew made up of Cristina Drugă, Amalia Chelaru, Adriana Adam, Florin Lehaci, Cosmin Iulian Pleşescu, Ciprian Tudosă, Ştefan Berariu, Simona Radiş and Victoria Petreanu won with a time of 5.35 minutes, followed by the Netherlands (05:38.42) and the USA (05:38.61) in the final event of the regatta.
In a historic first at the World Championships, Adriana Adam and Simona Radiş concluded the Amsterdam games with three gold medals each, adding Sunday’s victories in the mixed 8+ and women’s 8+ to their Friday win in the women’s coxless pair.
Overall, Romania finished 4th in the medal standings at the 2026 World Rowing Championships with three gold medals, trailing the Netherlands, Germany and the United States, but ahead of nations such as Great Britain, Mexico and Ireland. Romania was represented in Amsterdam from August 24–30 by a delegation of 38 athletes competing across 14 crews. By comparison, in last year’s World Championships in Shanghai, Romania won six medals, two gold and four silver, finishing second overall behind the Dutch and ahead of the British.
On Sunday evening, Interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan congratulated the rowing champions on social media, praising the years of hard work, discipline and sacrifice behind their success. “You have brought Romania to the top of the world and brought us great joy”, Ilie Bolojan wrote. (VP)
