Iulia Olteanu (née Negură; born 26 January 1967) is a Romanian former

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competed in cross country,

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and road running events. She made her breakthrough on the international scene with consecutive wins at the IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships in 1990 and 1991. She helped Romania to a number of team medals at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and IAAF World Cross Country Championships, and also ran in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

at two editions of the

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

as well as the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Olteanu was the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

list at the

1994 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 3rd IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on September 24, 1994, in Oslo, Norway. A total of 214 athletes, 127 men and 87 women, from 48 countries took part. Complete results were published. Medallists Race Results Men's Wome ...

, setting a lifetime best of 1:09:15. She was victorious at the

1996 European Cross Country Championships The 3rd European Cross Country Championships were held at Charleroi in Belgium on 15 December 1996. Jon Brown took the title in the men's competition and Sara Wedlund won the women's race. Results Men individual 9.65 km 100 runners finished ...

but was stripped of her title as she had failed a test for the steroid stanozolol and received a two-year competitive ban for doping. After her ban had expired, she was again selected for the Romanian cross country and half marathon teams, but failed to medal. She competed in her first

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

in 2002 but retired from international competition in 2003. Among her other achievements are two consecutive 10,000 m titles at the Summer Universiade, as well as circuit wins at the

Great South Run The Great South Run is an annual 10 mile (16.09 km) road running race which takes place in Portsmouth, United Kingdom providing an intermediate distance between the ten kilometre and the half marathon (21.097 km) runs. Launched in 1990 ...

, Sapporo Half Marathon and the

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

and

Fukuoka Cross Country The Fukuoka International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in Fukuoka, Japan in either late February or Early March. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF ...

meetings.

Career

Early career

Born Iulia Negură in

Piatra Neamț Piatra Neamț (; german: Kreuzburg an der Bistrița (Siret), Bistritz; hu, Karácsonkő) is the capital city of Neamț County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in northeastern Romania. Because of its privileged location in the Easter ...

, Romania, she made her debut at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1987, coming in 50th place. She made her breakthrough three years later with a twelfth-place finish at the

1990 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1990 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Aix-les-Bains, France, at the Hippodrome de Marlioz on March 25, 1990. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. Complete results for senior men, junior men, senior ...

, followed by a win at the IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships.IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-03-03. She took a road win at the Foulées de Suresnes over 10 km in October. She made her global track debut at the

1991 World Championships in Athletics The 3rd World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan between August 23 and September 1. 1517 athletes from 167 countries participa ...

in Tokyo where she was 17th over

.Olteanu Iulia

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2011-03-03. She also managed three national titles over that distance in her career. She took a second world title over 15 km at the 1991 Women's Road Championships.

World and Olympic competition

In 1992 she reached the top twenty at the

1992 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1992 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, at the Franklin Park on March 21, 1992. A report on the event was given in ''The New York Times''. Complete results for senior men, junior men, ...

and also ran at the newly inaugurated IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, where she was tenth overall. Among her appearances on the circuit that year was a win over 10 miles at the

in Portsmouth. She won the race for a second time the next year and improved upon her previous position at the

1993 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2nd IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on October 3, 1993, in Brussels, Belgium. A total of 254 athletes, 133 men, 86 women and 35 juniors, from 49 countries took part. Complete results were published. Medallists Race Results ...

, finishing the race in seventh to help Romania to the women's team title with

Elena Murgoci Elena Murgoci-Florea (20 May 1960 – 26 August 1999) was a female long-distance runner from Romania, who specialized in the marathon race. Murgoci represented her native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics, finishing in 32nd place in the wom ...

and Anuța Cătună.IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 1992-2005 Facts & Figures
.

. Retrieved on 2011-03-03. She represented Romania in the 10,000 m at the

1993 World Championships in Athletics The 4th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Neckarstadium, Stuttgart, Germany between 13 and 22 August with the participation of 187 nations. Having ori ...

, coming sixteenth. She was first at the 1994 Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale and set a course record of 1:10:32. Olteanu ran a personal best of 1:09:15 for the half marathon event at the

to take the

behind

Elana Meyer Elana Meyer, OIS, (born 10 October 1966) is a South African long-distance runner who won the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 metres event. Meyer set the 15 kilometres road running African record of 46:57 minutes in Nov ...

, as well as leading the Romanian women to a second consecutive team title. At the

20 Kilomètres de Paris The 20 Kilomètres de Paris (''Paris 20 km'') is an annual road running competition over 20 kilometres which takes place on the streets of Paris, France in October. First held in 1979, the race attracts top level international competitors ...

in October she won in a time of 1:08:04. She was studying at university during this period and as a student she won the Summer Universiade titles in the 10,000 m in 1993 and 1995,World Student Games (Universiade) - Women
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-03-03. as well a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the 1994

FISU Cross Country Championships The Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU, en, International University Sports Federation) is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 2 ...

. She was 29th in the long race at the

1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Durham, United Kingdom, at the University of Durham on 25 March 1995. A report on the event was given in ''The New York Times'' and in the Herald A herald, or a herald of ar ...

, sharing in the team

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

, while her eleventh-place finish at the

1995 European Cross Country Championships The 2nd European Cross Country Championships were held at Alnwick in England on 2 December 1995. Paulo Guerra took his second title in the men's competition and Annemari Sandell won the women's race. Results Men individual 9km 103 runners finish ...

brought Romania the team silver medals at that event. Olteanu ran at the

1995 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 4th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on October 1, 1995, from Montbéliard to Belfort, France. A total of 243 athletes, 147 men and 96 women, from 54 countries took part. Complete results were published. Medallists Race Res ...

but did not manage to finish the race on that occasion. At the beginning of 1996 she won the

Chiba International Cross Country The Chiba International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in Chiba, Japan in mid-February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Champio ...

in Japan.Chiba International Crosscountry

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

(2011-02-14). Retrieved on 2011-03-03. She took twelfth place at the

1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, at the Danie Craven Stadium on March 23, 1996. A preview on the event was given in the Herald, and a report in ''The New York Times''. Complete results fo ...

, helping Romania to another team bronze, and made her Olympic debut on the track in August. Setting a career best mark of 31:26.46 minutes, she came eighth in the women's 10,000 m at the

1996 Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Stripped title and doping ban

Olteanu ended the year with her first win at a major continental competition, taking the

at the

. However, her performance did not stand as she had failed an out-of-competition drug test in early December, two weeks before the event. She received a four-year ban from competition for her use of stanozolol (a performance-enhancing steroid. Her ban came at a time when numerous Romanian athletes were punished for doping infractions, marking a determined effort by Iolanda Balaş, the president of the

Romanian Athletics Federation The Romanian Athletics Federation (Romanian: ''Federația Română de Atletism'') is the Romanian national sporting authority which coordinates athletics activity. History Athletics first appeared in Romania at the end of the 19th century. The ...

(FRA), to clean up the national athletics scene. In spite of this, the FRA opted to give Olteanu a two-year ban for her failed test, superseding the longer four-year ban set in place by the International Association of Athletics Federations. She became eligible for competition again in December 1998.

Later career

She made her international return at the

1999 European Cross Country Championships The 6th European Cross Country Championships were held at Velenje in Slovenia on 12 December 1999. Paulo Guerra took his third title in the men's competition and Anita Weyermann won the women's race. Results Men individual 79 runners finished ...

and helped Romania to the team silver alongside

Constantina Diţă Flavia Valeria Constantina (also sometimes called ''Constantia'' and ''Constantiana''; el, Κωνσταντίνα; b. after 307/before 317 – d. 354), later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Great ...

. Her efforts were principally focused on cross country over this period: she won the Fukuoka International Cross Country in 2000 and ran in both the long and short races at the

2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 18/19, 2000. The races were held at the Sporting Complex in Vilamoura, Portugal. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in the Herald, and for the IAAF ...

, finishing 46th in the long race and 21st over the shorter distance. The following year she won both the Chiba and Fukuoka races in Japan at the beginning of 2001, going on to place fifteenth in the short race at the

2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24/25, 2001. The races were held at the Hippodrome Wellington in Ostend (Oostende), Belgium. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in the ''Herald'', ...

. After taking the national title in the half marathon, she ran at that year's

World Half Marathon Championships The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships is a biennial international half marathon competition organised by World Athletics. The competition was launched as the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1992 and held annually until 2010. It ...

and came 22nd in the rankings. She also competed on the Japanese road circuit in 2001 and was third at both the Sapporo Half Marathon and

Kyoto Half Marathon Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. Olteanu decided to make a change up to the

distance in 2002 and she finished the

Vienna City Marathon The Vienna City Marathon is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of 42.195 km held in Vienna, Austria since 1984. History The first edition was held on with a total of 794 competitors. It is Austria's largest road running even ...

in a time of 2:40:14 hours, placing sixth.de la Varre, René (October 2002)
2002 Vienna City Marathon
''

Running Times Rodale, Inc. (), was an American publisher of health and wellness magazines, books, and digital properties headquartered in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, with a satellite office in New York City. The company was founded in 1930. In 2017, it was acquired ...

''. Retrieved on 2011-03-03. The 2003 season saw her final year of international competition: despite a win at the national half marathon championships, she failed to finish the race at the World Championships that year.

Personal bests

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

- 15:06.73 mins (1999) *

- 31:26.46 mins (1996) * Half marathon - 1:09:15 hrs (1994) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

- 2:40:14 hrs (2002) :All information from IAAF Profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olteanu, Iulia Living people 1987 births Sportspeople from Piatra Neamț Romanian female long-distance runners Romanian female marathon runners Olympic athletes for Romania Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Romania Doping cases in athletics Romanian sportspeople in doping cases IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships winners