Iulian Șerban (25 February 1985 – 6 January 2021) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

paracanoe Paracanoe is canoeing for athletes with a range of physical disabilities. The Paralympic version of the sport is governed by the International Canoe Federation (ICF), and a va'a-specific variant is governed by the International Va'a Federation ( ...

ist who competed from the late 2000s onwards. He was a three time world champion, five time European champion and the first Romanian man to compete in canoeing in the Paralympics.

Biography

Early life

Șerban was born in

Olănești Olănești is a village in Ștefan Vodă District, Moldova. On 23 February 1932, in front of Olănești, at the Soviet bank of the Dniester river, 40 out of a group of 60 unarmed ethnic Romanians from Transnistria who were attempting to escape fr ...

Vâlcea County Vâlcea County (also spelt ''Vîlcea''; ) is a county (județ) that lies in south-central Romania. Located in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (which are separated by the Olt (river), Olt River), it i ...

. He grew up with his mother and brother in Colentina, after his father died when he was 11 years old. He began canoeing in 1998 after following his mother and brother into the sport, who were both national champions. He would continue canoeing in his youth, before leaving the sport aged 19 to pursue work.

Injury

In May 2006, he was rushing to catch a train at

Bușteni Bușteni () is a small mountain town in the north of Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located in the Prahova Valley, at the bottom of the Bucegi Mountains, that have a maximum altitude of . Its name literally means Logging, tree-logs in Ro ...

station when he fell under the wheels, losing his right leg and suffering multiple injuries. Șerban was 21 years old. He would spend over seven months in bed enduring 20 operations.

Return to canoe

After recovery, Șerban turned back to the water and to canoeing. He would be the first Romanian male paralympic canoeist. In 2010, the first European and World Championship events in paracanoe were introduced. Șerban would go on to win a gold medal in the K-1 200 m LTA event at the

2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held 19–22 August 2010 in Poznań, Poland, on Lake Malta. This was the third time that the Polish city hosted the championships, having done so previously in 1990 and 2001. Paracanoe (form ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. He would defend his title in 2011 and in 2012. In 2013, he won his fourth gold medal at the European Kayak-Canoe Championships in Montemo-o-Velho. He became the first Romanian male canoeist to compete at the Paralympics when he participated in the 2016 Summer Paralympic games in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. He would eventually place fourth at the Rio games. After the Olympics, in 2017, Șerban placed 12th at the world championships and sixth at the European championships.

Death

Șerban died in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

at the age of 35 on 6 January 2021. The cause of death was not disclosed. His death was announced by his paddling club, Club Steaua Bucharest. In April 2021, Şerban's Olympic canoe and his world championships canoes were stolen from a boathouse partly owned by Mihaela Lulea.

References

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External links

* 1985 births 2021 deaths Romanian male canoeists Paralympic canoeists for Romania ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in paracanoe KL3-classified paracanoeists Sportspeople from Vâlcea County Canoeists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics 21st-century Romanian sportsmen {{Romania-canoe-bio-stub