Romania at the Olympic Games – Judoka Andreea Chițu
Romanians pin their Olympic hopes on judoka Andreea Chițu
Florin Orban, 22.04.2021, 13:45
Judo competitions became part of
the Olympic programme at the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. They were left outside
at the following edition four years later in Mexico but were reintroduced in
Munich in 1972. Romania has been represented in Olympic judo competitions since
the Moscow edition in 1980 but had no representative in the 1988 edition hosted
by the South Korean capital Seoul.
Athletes from Romania started to
obtain medals at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984, when Mircea Fratica
walked away with bronze from the 78-kilogram category and Mihai Cioc did the
same in the freestyle event.
The best Olympic performances
were clinched by Alina Dumitru, gold medalist in the 48-kilogram category in
Beijing in 2008 and silver medalist in London in 2012.
For the upcoming edition in
Tokyo, the Romanians have pinned their hopes on the double European champion
Andreea Chitu, competing in the 52-kilogram category.
Chitu was born on May 7, 1988
near Bucharest and signed up with the Romanian Army sports club Steaua
Bucharest. She reaped silver medals in two world championships, in 2014 in
Chelyabinsk, Russia and a year later in Astana, Kazakhstan. She stepped onto
the podium’s third step in Paris in 2011.
She added five more medals, which
she won in European championships: gold in Chelyabinsk in 2012 and in Baku,
Azerbaijan, in 2014, and silver in Budapest, Hungary in 2013. She also walked away
with bronze from Montpellier, France in 2014 and from Kazan, Russia, in 2016.
Andreea Chitu qualified for the Olympic Games twice, in London in 2012 and in
Rio in 2016 when she ranked 7th.
(translated by D. Bilt)
