| OLYMPIC PROFILES: SHOOTER CORNELIU ION 21/06/2008 |
| (2008-06-20) |
| Last updated: 2008-06-20 16:58 EET |
In the world history of sports-shooting, very few have risen to the level reached by the Romanian shooter Corneliu Ion. He is the holder of an Olympic record, an OLympic and a European champion title, and has won medals in every single major sports-shooting competition. He managed to get maximum score in the speed-shooting event, 600 out of 600 points, and not once, but twice.
He was born in Focsani on June 27th 1951. Between 1970 and 1988, he played for the Steaua Bucuresti sports club. He made his first appearance in an international competition in 1974, when he earned a silver medal in the World Championship. He became European champion in the 1977 games held in Bucharest.
His biggest performance is winning the gold medal in the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow. It was an exhausting competition, but in the end, Corneliu Ion managed to overcome the East German shooter Jurgen Wiefel, after a tight game that required no less than three over-time rounds. Four years later, in the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles, the Romanian shooter won a silver medal. Then, in 1985, he earned the title of European champion for the last time. This was his last major sporting performance.
Corneliu Ion is a graduate of the Academy of Economic Sciences in Bucharest. In 1989, he graduated from the International School of Shooting Trainers in Wiesbaden. His special training and studies in economy allowed him to pursue a successful career as a sports manager. After he retired in 1988, he became manager of the sport-shooting department within the Steaua Military Sports Club in Bucharest, where he worked for 12 years. He was also president of the Romanian Sports Shooting Federation between 1990 and 2001, a time when Romanian sportsmen, notably Florin Babii, scored prestigious successes in international competitions.
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2024-04-25
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