Maria Cioncan (19 June 1977 - 21 January 2007) was a middle distance runner from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, best known for winning a bronze medal in the 1500 metres event at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Life

Born in

Maieru Maieru ( hu, Major; german: Meierhof) is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Anieș (''Dombhát'') and Maieru. People * Emil Rebreanu * Maria Cioncan Maria Cioncan (19 June 1977 - 21 ...

, she set personal bests in both 800 and 1500 metres during the games. Her 2005 season was cut short, and her only notable competition appearance was at the SPAR European Cup in Firenze, Italy where she won the 800 (2:00.88) and placed second in the 1500 (4:07.39). Cioncan's last competition on the top international level was the 2006 World Indoor Championships, where she failed to progress past the first heat of the 800m. Earlier that indoor season she ran an indoor personal best of 2:01.70. On 21 January 2007 Cioncan died in a car accident near

Pleven Pleven ( bg, Плèвен ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. She was returning from a training camp in Greece when her vehicle flipped over and struck a tree, killing her instantly.

Achievements

Personal bests

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

- 1:59.44 min (2004) *

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

- 3:58.39 min (2004) *

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

- 8:57.71 min (2002)

External links

* * *http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n103809 1977 births 2007 deaths Romanian female middle-distance runners People from Bistrița-Năsăud County Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Romania Road incident deaths in Bulgaria Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Romania {{Romania-Olympic-medalist-stub