Doina Ofelia Melinte (; née Beșliu on 27 December 1956) is a retired

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

middle-distance runner. She competed at four Olympics (1980–92), and won a gold medal in the 800 metres and a silver medal in the 1500 metres in 1984. She won the world indoor title in 1987 and 1989 and the European indoor title in 1985, 1988 and 1990 in the 1500 m. Her world indoor mile record of 4:17.41 in 1990, stood for 26 years.

Career

Melinte competed as Doina Beșliu at the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

and reached the semi-finals of the 800 metres. In 1982, now competing as Doina Melinte, she was the fastest woman in the world at 800 metres but only finished sixth in the final of that years

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in Athens. She also finished sixth in both the 800 m and 1500 m at the 1983 World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. At the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, she won a gold medal in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

ahead of

Kim Gallagher Kimberly Ann "Kim" Gallagher (June 11, 1964 – November 18, 2002) was an American middle-distance runner who won a silver and a bronze medal at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. Records National high school records *800 Meters – 2:00.07 *3200 Me ...

of the US and countrywoman Fiţa Lovin, and a silver medal in the 1500 metres behind

Gabriella Dorio Gabriella Dorio (born 27 June 1957 in Veggiano, Veneto) is an Italian former athlete and Olympic gold winner. She won two medals, at senior level, at the International athletics competitions. Biography She first participated in the 1976 Summer Ol ...

of Italy and ahead of another Romanian,

Maricica Puică Maricica Puică (née Luca on 29 July 1950) is a retired Romanian middle-distance runner. She is the 1984 Olympic champion in the 3000 metres. One of the greatest female middle-distance runners of the 1980s, she also twice won the World Cross Co ...

. She won a 1500 m bronze medal at the 1986 European Championships, behind the Soviet pair of

Ravilya Agletdinova Ravilya Agletdinova (russian: Равиля Аглетдинова; married name Kotovich; 10 February 1960 – 25 June 1999) was a Soviet middle-distance runner who competed in 800 metres, 1500 metres and 3000 metres events. She was the 1500 ...

and

Tatyana Samolenko Tetyana Apaycheva (née Khamitova, Divorced Samolenko and Dorovskykh, ua, Тетяна Володимирівна Апайчева, née Хамітова, born 12 August 1961) is a Ukrainian retired middle-distance runner who represented the Sov ...

. In March 1987, she won the 1500 m at the World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, ahead of Samolenko. In September of that year, she won a bronze medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Rome. She originally finished fourth but was promoted one position after the disqualification of original bronze medal winner Sandra Gasser. At her third Olympic Games in

Seoul 1988 The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, she finished a disappointing ninth in the 1500 m final won by her team-mate

Paula Ivan Paula Ivan (born 20 July 1963 as Ionescu, later known as Ilie) is a retired Romanian middle-distance runner. Born in Herăști, Giurgiu County, she graduated from the Gheorghe Șincai High School in Bucharest in 1982. In 1987, Ivan won gold ...

. In 1989, she defended her 1500 m World Indoor title in Budapest, winning in a championship record of 4:04.79. In February 1990, she broke the world indoor mile record with 4:17.14 in East Rutherford. The record stood for 26 years until

Genzebe Dibaba Genzebe Dibaba Keneni (Oromo language, Oromo: ''Ganzabee Dibaabaa Qananii''; Amharic: ገንዘቤ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 8 February 1991) is an Ethiopian Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner. A 150 ...

ran 4:13.31 in 2016. A month later, she won her third European Indoor title over 1500 m in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. A medal favourite for the 1990 European Championships in Split, she could only finish sixth in the 1500 m final. In 1991, she was fourth in the 1500 m finals at both the World Indoor Championships in Seville and the

in Tokyo. Melinte concluded her international career at the

1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, where she dropped out of the 1500 m final.

Personal life

Melinte first wanted to be a gymnast or a ballerina, but did not have adequate conditions for training. She then played handball before changing to athletics. Around 1980–82 she married her coach Dorin Melinte, and after retiring from competitions in 1992 became a coach herself. In 2010–2012 she served as director of the National Agency for Youth and Sports ( Autoritatea Naţională pentru Sport şi Tineret) and later became vice president of the national anti-doping agency.

International competitions

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Melinte, Doina 1956 births Living people Romanian female middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Romania Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for Romania World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1983 Summer Universiade