Nicolae "Nicu" Vlad (born 1 November 1963) is a retired heavyweight weightlifter 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 ...

. He competed for Romania at the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal. He won the world title in 1984, 1986 and 1990 and European title in 1985 and 1986 and set world records in the snatch in 1986 and 1993. Between 1991 and 1996, he lived in Australia and competed for it internationally. In 2006, he was elected member of the

International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), headquartered in Lausanne, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 192 Member Federations. The IWF President is Mohammed H ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

. He is still especially noteworthy for achieving the heaviest-ever snatch of double-bodyweight -- lifting 200.5kg in the 100kg class.

Biography

Vlad was born in a family of three brothers and one sister in a village of Piscu in

Galați County Galați () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Moldavia region, with the capital city at Galați. History Historically Galați is part of Moldavia. In 1858, it was represented by Alexandru Ioan Cuza at the ''ad hoc Divan'' at Iași, in the wa ...

. His mother was a housewife and father worked for the national railway carrier

Căile Ferate Române Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) is the state railway carrier of Romania. As of 2014, the railway network of Romania consists of , of which (37.4%) are electrified. The total track length is , of which (38.5%) are electrifie ...

; he did not do any particular sport, but was a strong man weighing 100 kg at 172 cm height. After completing a school in Galați, Vlad moved to

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 ...

. In 1990, Nicu and his coach, Dragomir Cioroslan came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to train at various places around the country. Between 1991 and 1996, Vlad lived in Australia and competed for it at the 1994 Commonwealth Games and two world championships during this time. In 1996, he returned to Romania, but still has strong ties to Australia visiting regularly as his two children continue to live there. Nicu is married to the former rower Cristina Vlad. Nicu took up weightlifting in 1978 and retired after the 1996 Olympics to become a national coach. In 2001, he was elected president of the Romanian Weightlifting Federation, and in 2004 vice president of the

Romanian Olympic Committee The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee ( ro, Comitetul Olimpic și Sportiv Român, COSR) is responsible for Romania's participation in the Olympic Games. History The Romanian Olympic Committee ( ro, Comitetul Olimpic Român) was formed in 1 ...

. He also served as first vice president of the International Weightlifting Federation. In June 2021 as Vice President of the IWF, Vlad was charged with complicity and tampering with multiple ADRV's by the

International Testing Agency The International Testing Agency, often referred to by the acronym ITA, is an independent organisation constituted as a non-profit foundation which implements anti-doping programs for international sports federations, major event organizers ...

. It was alleged that Vlad conspired with the president of the IWF,

Tamás Aján Tamás Aján (born January 12, 1939) was the President of the International Weightlifting Federation from 2000 to 2020 and was a member of the International Olympic Committee until 2010. Early life and career Born in Gherla (Szamosújvár), Rom ...

, to allow Romanian weightlifter

Roxana Cocoș Roxana Cocoș (; born 5 June 1989 in Bucharest) is a Romanian weightlifter. On 1 August 2012, Cocoș won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the –69 kg category with a snatch of 113 kg and a clean and jerk of 143 kg ...

to compete at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

despite having tested positive for anabolic steroids just 3 months earlier.

Romanian deadlift

Owing to Vlad, the flat-backed, semi-stiff legged barbell lift (with a form similar to a

deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

) came to be known as the Romanian deadlift. He was seen by some American lifters doing the deadlifts in the Olympic training hall prior to either winning a medal, setting a world record or both. Since he is Romanian, the exercise got dubbed the Romanian deadlift, and that is the name most people know the exercise by. As the exercise does not involve lifting the weight off the ground, it is not technically a deadlift, but rather a powerful compound accessory movement that strengthens the same muscles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vlad, Nicu 1963 births Living people Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Olympic weightlifters of Romania Olympic medalists in weightlifting Romanian male weightlifters Romanian expatriates in Australia Weightlifters at the 1984 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1988 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists People from Galați County 20th-century Romanian people