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.
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Sporting career
Pârvulescu took up wrestling at a very young age, with the Vulturii club in Lugoj
Lugoj (; hu, Lugos; german: Lugosch; sr, Лугош, Lugoš; bg, Лугож; tr, Logoş) is a list of cities and towns in Romania, city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș River divides the city into two halves, the so-called "Romanian Lugoj" ...
. 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 ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
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 (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
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
Ignazio Fabra (25 April 1930 – 13 April 2008) is a flyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Italy. He won a world title in 1955 and finished second at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and 1962 and 1963 world championships. He placed fourth-fifth at the 1 ...
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.
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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
Constantin Alexandru (15 December 1953 – 10 August 2014) was a light-flyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Romania who won a silver medal at the 1980 Olympics. He was the world champion in 1978 and 1979 and European champion in 1974–1975 and 1 ...
and with discovering a young talent who would become 1984 Olympic champion in the 100 kg category Vasile Andrei
Vasile Andrei (born 28 July 1955) is a retired heavyweight wrestler from Romania. He competed in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1980, 1984 and 1988 Olympics and won a bronze medal in 1980 and a gold medal in 1984. At the 1984 Olympics he also place ...
. 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.[
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References
External links
1960 Olympic medal winners in Greco-Roman wrestling
at the IOC website
Dumitru Pârvulescu obituary
at the Romanian National Sports Agency website
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{{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
People from Lugoj
Olympic medalists in wrestling
Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Bucharest