Dorina Mihai (born 1 June 1981) is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

fencer, world champion in 2003.

Biography

Mihai took up fencing in primary school on the advice of a teacher, who directed her to

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

. Disappointed not to earn any title in eleven years of practice, she thought of giving up, but eventually decided to try

, a weapon in which she quickly obtained results. 47th in world rankings before the event, she reached the final of the

2003 World Fencing Championships The 2003 World Fencing Championships were held in Havana, Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

after defeating Cuba's Ana Faez Miclin in the quarter-finals, then Italy's

Gioia Marzocca Gioia Marzocca (born 22 June 1979) is an Italian fencer. She competed in the women's individual sabre events at the 2004, 2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage c ...

. She met reigning world champion

Tan Xue Tan Xue (; born January 30, 1984, in Tianjin) is a female Chinese fencer who won silver medals in the Sabre Individual at the 2004 Summer Olympics and in the Team Sabre at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She became world champion in 2002, defeatin ...

of China and defeated her by a single hit to win the world title. By circumstance Mihai had found herself at the championships without her fencing mask and had been forced to use a

Lexan Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...

visor mask, promoted by the

International Fencing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

because it shows the fencer's face. By winning the competition, Mihai also received a prize of $10.000 offered by the federation to the best-ranked athlete wearing a Lexan mask. For her performance Mihai was named "athlete of the year" along with weightlifter

Valeriu Calancea Valeriu Calancea (born November 18, 1980 in Chişinău) is a Romanian weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loa ...

. Mihai decided to forgo the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

to marry fellow fencer Cristian Lupu, a reserve in the men's national team, and to give birth to a son, Luca Nicolas.

Cătălina Gheorghițoaia Cătălina Gheorghițoaia (born 19 June 1975) is a Romanian sabre fencer, team silver medallist in the 2001 World Fencing Championships. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, placing fourth after being defeated by Mariel Zagunis, then Sada ...

, who went in her place, finished fourth. Mihai's return to competition did not yield further results. When the women's national sabre team was disbanded for lack of funds, Mihai decided to retire from competition. Her club

CS Dinamo București CS Dinamo București is a Romanian sports society based in Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast ...

being subordinated to the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

, she decided to join the

Romanian Police The Romanian Police ( ro, Poliția Română, ) is the national police force and main civil law enforcement agency in Romania. It is subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and it is led by a General Inspector with the rank of Secretary ...

. She worked three years in the field before joining the

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...

Police Inspectorate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mihai, Dorina 1981 births Living people Romanian female fencers Romanian sabre fencers