Paris Olympics profiles– Rowers Ioana Vrânceanu and Roxana Anghel
A new edition in our 2024 Olympics follow-up series
Florin Orban, 04.09.2024, 13:45
At the Olympic Games in Paris, rowing was a sport where Romania grabbed excellent results. Of the 9 medals brought home by our athletes, 5 were scooped in rowing. Of the 13 athletes who climbed the podium in the rowing events, four won two medals each, one gold and one silver. We’re referring to Ioana Vrânceanu and Roxana Anghel, ranked second in the women’s pair, and Simona Radiş and Ancuța Bodnar, silver medalists in the double-scull race, all four members of the 8+1 crew that won the Olympic title. Today’s edition introduces you to Ioana Vrânceanu and Roxana Anghel.
The two athletes went to Paris as the reigning European champions in the women’s pair, a title won in Szeged, in Hungary, this year. At the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, they were awarded bronze medals. In Paris, they easily passed the qualifying heats and had no trouble qualifying to the semi-finals. They then finished second in the first semi-final and reached the final. The fight for medals was tough. The Romanians started slow and were in 5th place after the first 500 meters. They then advanced one place at each intermediate checkpoint. In the middle of the race, they were in 4th place, and at the 1500-meter mark they climbed to third position. They finished the race in second place, after beating Lithuania and Australia. The gold was grabbed by the reigning world champions, the Dutch Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester. Australia grabbed bronze.
The 8+1 victory followed. The Romanian crew won outright, crossing the finish line five seconds ahead of Great Britain, which ranked second. Apart from Vrânceanu, Anghel, Bodnar and Radiş, whom we have already mentioned, Maria Magdalena Rusu, Maria Lehaci, Adriana Adam, Amalia Bereş and Victoria Ştefania Petreanu were also in the lineup.
Ioana Vrânceanu was born March 7, 1994, in Târgu Mureş (center). She grabbed her first notable performance in 2017, when she was part of the Romanian crew that won the gold medal in the 8+1 race at the World Rowing Championships hosted by the United States, in Sarasota, Florida.
Roxana Anghel is from Câmpulung Moldovenesc (north) and was born January 1, 1998. She got a taste of great victories in 2019, being part of the 8+1 crew that won the European title in Lucerne. (VP)
