| THE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: ROMANIAN ROWER NICOLETA ALBU 22/09/2009 |
| (2009-09-22) |
| Last updated: 2009-09-23 15:50 EET |
Romanian rowers have again successfully defended their positions in the European standings. At the latest European championships which ended in Brest on Sunday, rowers from Romania stepped onto the podium three times, clinching two gold medals. The Romanian double, made up of Camelia Lupascu and Nicoleta Albu became gold medalists after ending the race in 7 minutes, 27 seconds and 28 hundredths, three seconds ahead the teams of Russia and Croatia.
The Romanian eight, made up of Roxana Cogianu, Ionelia Neacsu, Maria Diana Bursuc, Ioana Craciun, Elena Trifoi, Nicoleta Albu, Adelina Cojocaru, Eniko Barabas and Teodora Stoica also ended the race on the first position. They were followed by the team of Belarus, who crossed the finish line five seconds after the Romanians, while Ukraine came third in the race. The Romanian four, made up of Andreea Boghian, Irina Dorneanu, Mihaela Petrila and Cristina Grigoras came third in the race and secured the bronze medal.
If we look at the list of medals, as published by press agencies, we notice that Nicoleta Albu has reaped two gold medals in this edition of European championship, a reason for which Radio Romania International has designated her the Athlete of the Week. Nicoleta Albu was born in Braila, eastern Romania 21 years ago and took up rowing at the age of 14. She obtained her first notable results this year in Poznan, Poland, when she clinched two silver medals, the first in the double contest together with Camelia Lupascu and the second with the Romanian eight.
Nicoleta’s team mate, Camelia Lupascu is 23 years old and lives in Dorohoi. The two athletes proved they are a force to be reckoned with and they can stand good chances of winning a medal in the London Olympics in 2012. We recall that Romania hasn’t missed the Olympic gold in a double race since Sydney 2000. The gold medalists in Sydney were Georgeta Damian Andrunache and Doina Ignat. In 2004 in Athens and 2008 in Beijing a Romanian double made up of Georgeta Damian and Viorica Susanu emerged as winners stepping onto the highest step of the podium. Andrunache and Susanu withdrew from competitions last year.
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2026-06-06
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