Ivan Patzaichin (; 26 November 1949 – 5 September 2021) was a Romanian

canoe racing A canoe is a lightweight narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British Englis ...

coach and sprint canoeist. He took part in all major competitions between 1968 and 1984, including five consecutive Olympics, and won seven Olympic and 22 world championship medals, including four Olympic gold medals. This makes him the most decorated Romanian canoeist of all time. He later worked as a canoeing coach, attending five more Olympics in this capacity. In 1990 he was awarded the

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Traditi ...

, and in 2006 a nationwide poll included him on the list 100 Greatest Romanians of all time.

Biography

Patzaichin was born in a Russian

Lipovan , flag = Flag of the Lipovans.png , flag_caption = Flag of the Lipovans , image = Evstafiev-lipovane-slava-cherkeza.jpg , caption = Lipovans during a ceremony in front of the Lipovan church in the Romanian village of Slava Cercheză in 200 ...

family in the village Mila 23,

Tulcea County Tulcea County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea. It includes in its northeast corner the large and thinly-populated estuary of the Danube. Demographics In 2011, Tulcea Cou ...

. His father Vicol was a fisherman and his mother Alexandra was a dressmaker. He took up canoeing at an early age inspired by his grandfather, and decided to pursue a canoeing career after watching a television broadcast of two canoers from his village, more specifically

Vicol Calabiciov Vicol Calabiciov is a retired Romanian sprint canoeist who competed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won two medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe ra ...

and

Serghei Covaliov Serghei Covaliov (14 October 1944 – 16 May 2011) was a Romanian sprint canoeist. He was the child of Mr. and Mrs. Simeon Covaliov. He mostly competed in doubles together with Ivan Patzaichin, a fellow Lipovan Russian born in the same village. ...

, winning the 1966 world title in doubles. In 1967, aged 18, he moved to the Romanian capital

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 of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, where he joined the club Dinamo. One year later, in 1968, he was included in the national team and won an Olympic gold medal, rowing with Covaliov. At the 1972 Olympics, Patzaichin broke his oar and placed last in the singles heats. Yet he managed to finish the race, paddling with a piece of wood that he removed from the floor of his canoe, and was included in the

repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

. He eventually won the repechage and the final race. In the doubles, he again teamed with Covaliov and placed second, just 0.03 seconds behind the winners. Patzaichin spent his entire career with Dinamo, first as a trainee and competitor, rowing 4,000–5,000 km per year in his prime, and then as a coach. His most famous trainees are Olympic champions

Florin Popescu Florin Popescu (born 30 August 1974 in Iancu Jianu, Olt) is a Romanian sprint canoer who competed from the mid-1990s to 2005. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won two Olympic medals at Sydney in 2000 with teammate Mitică Pricop (gold: C ...

and

Mitică Pricop Mitică Pricop (born 25 October 1977 in Constanţa) is a Romanian sprint canoer who competed from the late 1990s to 2004. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won two medals at Sydney in 2000 with a gold in the C-2 1000 m and a bronze in the ...

. A statue of Patzaichin is installed outside of the Dinamo main office. Besides canoeing, he also founded the association ''Ivan Patzachin – Mila 23'' and launched the national project ''Rowmania'' aiming to promote

heritage tourism Cultural heritage tourism (or just heritage tourism) is a branch of tourism oriented towards the cultural heritage of the location where tourism is occurring. The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States defines heritage t ...

and other outdoor activities. Patzaichin owned his own line of clothing made from natural products. In 1976, Patzaichin married Georgiana, a woman he met in August 1975. They have a daughter Ivona Beatrice (born 1979), who works at the National Commission of Hospital Accreditation. He was involved in an animation project in 2020, dubbing into Romanian the character Scroop in the Disney movie ''

Treasure Planet ''Treasure Planet'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The 43rd Disney animated feature film, it is a science fiction adaptatio ...

''. Ivan Patzaichin died on 5 September, aged 71, in

, after having been hospitalized for three months with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

. He was 71.

Awards and honors

* Silver Olympic Order (1990) *Officer of the

Order of Faithful Service The National Order of Faithful Service ( ro, Ordinul Național "Serviciul Credincios") is the second highest national order of Romania, with the Order of the Star of Romania being the highest national order. Originally it was established as the Me ...

(Romania, 2000) *1st class Order of Sports Merit ( ro, Meritul Sportiv, 2008) * Military rank

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

(1 December 2004) * '' Nihil Sine Deo'' (2010)

References

* * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Patzaichin, Ivan 1949 births 2021 deaths People from Tulcea County Romanian people of Russian descent Canoeists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists of Romania Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania Romanian male canoeists Olympic medalists in canoeing Recipients of the Olympic Order ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Deaths from cancer in Romania Deaths from lung cancer Romanian generals Romanian Freemasons

Biography

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links