Dumitru Pârvulescu (or, in older spelling, Pîrvulescu; 14 June 1933 – 9 April 2007) was a flyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Romania. He competed at the 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a gold medal in 1960, placing third in 1964 and fourth in 1956. At the world championships he won a silver medal in 1961 and finished fourth-fifth in 1953 and 1958.

Sporting career

Pârvulescu took up wrestling at a very young age, with the Vulturii club in

Lugoj Lugoj (; ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities and towns in Romania, city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș, Timiș River divides the city into two halves: the "Romanian Lugoj" that spreads on the right bank, and the "German Lugoj" on the left bank. Th ...

. During his career he also represented Știința (Bucharest), Steagul Roșu ( Braşov), and for the most part Steaua Bucharest. He debuted internationally in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

in 1951, where he finished second. His Olympic debut in 1952 was less successful (2 defeats, 9th place). He narrowly missed the podium in the world Championship in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

in 1953, losing only to the world champion Ahmet Bilek; he also finished fourth at the 1956 Olympics. At the 1960 Olympics, Pârvulescu won the final against Ignazio Fabra in a close decision. Pârvulescu went on to win a silver at the 1961 World Championships and a bronze at the 1964 Olympics. Losing to Gheorghe Berceanu in the Romanian championship persuaded him to retire from the mat and become a coach.

Coaching career

Dumitru Pârvulescu coached for Steaua Bucharest and subsequently for L.C. Vulcan Bucharest. In addition, he was often commissioned by the Romanian wrestling Federation to select talented youngsters from various parts of the country. Pârvulescu was credited with coaching World champion and Olympic silver medalist Constantin Alexandru and with discovering a young talent who would become 1984 Olympic champion in the 100 kg category Vasile Andrei. He was also a mentor and confidant of World and Olympic 48 kg champion Gheorghe Berceanu. In 2000, Pârvulescu received the National “Faithful Service” Order, the highest civilian distinction in Romania.

References

External links

1960 Olympic medal winners in Greco-Roman wrestling
at the IOC website
Dumitru Pirvulescu obituary
at the Romanian National Sports Agency website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pârvulescu, Dumitru 1933 births 2007 deaths Olympic wrestlers for Romania Wrestlers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Romanian male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Sportspeople from Lugoj Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Martial artists from Bucharest 20th-century Romanian sportsmen