Athlete of the Week

Handball player Cristina Neagu

Florin Orban, 19.10.2021, 13:45

The Romanian women’s handball side CSM Bucharest last
Sunday pulled off their second win in the current edition of the Champions
League. CSM, who are coached by Adrian Vasile, defeated the German side Borussia
Dortmund 25:22 away, the latter having yet to lose a match in this Champions League
season until that point. CSM were in the lead almost throughout the match and Dortmund
were only ahead once, at the start of the first half, when they were leading
3:2. CSM’s Cristina Neagu again made the difference in the match, scoring six
times. Because of her excellent play in Dortmund, Radio Romania International has
chosen her Athlete of the Week.

Cristina Neagu was born in Bucharest on 26th
August 1988. She made her debut with the No. 5 School Sports Club and as a junior
she won the best player title a number of times beginning in 2005, when Romania
won the silver medal at the European Junior Championship hosted by Austria. In
2006 she joined Rulmentul Braşov and later Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea. In 2010, she
reached the Champions League final with this latter side. After Oltchim was
dismantled, she signed up with Buducnost Podgorica, winning the Champions
League title in 2015. Since 2017, she has been playing for CSM Bucharest.

Cristina Neagu was named best handball player in the
world by the International Handball Federation in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018 and
thus became the first handball player in the history of this sport to win the
trophy four times. Neagu also plays for the national side, being their captain
since 2016. In 2010, Romania won the bronze at the European Championship hosted
by Denmark and Norway and in 2015 another bronze at the World Championship hosted
by Denmark. Neagu recently withdrew temporarily from the national side to focus
more on her club performance, but later announced she would return in 2022. (CM)