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 ...

competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's participation started in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

(and its official debut in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hold ...

), Romanian athletes had appeared in every edition of the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

, except for two occasions: the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

in Los Angeles during the worldwide Great Depression, and the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ...

in London. The Romanian team consisted of 97 athletes, 34 men and 63 women, across 14 sports, their smallest in Summer Olympic history since

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

. For the fourth time in history, Romania fielded more female athletes than males at the Games, due to the proliferation of women in both athletics and rowing making the cut and the comeback of the women's handball squad after being absent from

London 2012 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, th ...

. Romania left Rio de Janeiro with four medals (one gold, one silver, and two bronze), signifying the country's poorest performance at the Summer Olympics since

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. The women's épée team brought home Romania's only gold medal at the Games, beating the top-ranked Chinese team in the final match with the help of early unmatched touches from four-time Olympian

Ana Maria Brânză Ana Maria Popescu, formerly known as Ana Maria Brânză (, born 26 November 1984), is a Romanian left-handed épée fencer. Popescu is a four-time team European champion, 2013 individual European champion, and two-time team world champion. A f ...

Horia Tecău Horia Tecău (; born January 19, 1985) is a Romanian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 US Open alongside Jean-Julien Roje ...

and

Florin Mergea Florin Mergea (; born 26 January 1985) is a Romanian tennis player and a doubles specialist. He has reached the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in 2015 and won an ATP Masters title at the Mutua Madrid Open earlier that year. He achieved a c ...

secured a historic first Olympic tennis medal of any color for their team, a silver in the men's doubles. The women's eight rowing squad made a late surge to obtain the final podium spot, while Russian-born

Albert Saritov Albert Ramazanovich Saritov (russian: Альберт Рамазанович Саритов; born July 8, 1985, in Khasavyurt) is a Russian-born Naturalized Romanian freestyle wrestler of Chechen descent. 2016 Olympics bronze me ...

closed out the nation's overall tally at the Games with a bronze in freestyle wrestling. For the first time since

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, Romanian athletes failed to earn an Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics. Originally, Romania collected a total of five medals. On 13 October 2016, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

stripped weightlifter

Gabriel Sîncrăian Gabriel Sîncrăian (born 21 December 1988) is a Romanian weightlifter who competes in the 85 kg weight division. Career He took part in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the same 85-kg event in 2016. Sîncrăian won two ...

of his bronze medal after he tested positive for excess

testosterone Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristi ...

Medalists

, width=78% align=left valign=top , , width=22% align=left valign="top" ,

Competitors

Romanian Olympic and Sports 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 ...

( ro, Comitetul Olimpic și Sportiv Român, ''COSR'') fielded a team of 97 athletes, 34 men and 63 women, to compete across 14 sports at the Games; it was the nation's smallest delegation sent to the Olympics since

. For only the fourth time in history, Romania was represented by more female athletes than males, due to the proliferation of women in both athletics and rowing making the cut, and the comeback of the women's handball squad after being absent from

. Of the 97 participants, 31 of them attended at least a single Olympiad, with the rest making their debut in Rio de Janeiro. For the first time since

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

, Romania did not send any of the artistic gymnastics squads to the Games, snapping the country's medal streak in the team event after four decades. Track and field accounted for the largest number of athletes on the squad with 22 entries. There was a single competitor in boxing, road cycling, rhythmic gymnastics, and shooting. Seven of the past Olympic medalists returned, including defending champion Alin Moldoveanu in men's air rifle shooting, triple jumper Marian Oprea, fencers

Tiberiu Dolniceanu Tiberiu Dolniceanu (; born 3 April 1988) is a Romanian sabre fencer, European champion in 2013 and bronze medal in the 2013 World championships. As part of Romania's sabre team, he won the team silver medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics and th ...

(men's sabre) and

(women's épée), judoka

Corina Căprioriu Corina Căprioriu (; born 18 July 1986) is a Romanian judoka. She has competed under the name Corina Ștefan since her 2016 marriage to Romanian wrestler Gheorghiță Ștefan. Căprioriu won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She los ...

(women's 57 kg), and gymnastics veterans

Marian Drăgulescu Marian Drăgulescu (born 18 December 1980 in Bucharest) is a former Romanian artistic gymnast. During his senior gymnastics career he won 31 medals at Olympic Games at World and European Championships, of which eight are gold medals at the World ...

, who owned a career tally of three medals leading to his fourth Games, and three-time champion

Cătălina Ponor Cătălina Ponor (; born 20 August 1987) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast who competed at three Olympiads: 2004, 2012, and 2016. She won three gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens on balance beam, floor and as part of the Rom ...

, who was selected as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony, the first by a gymnast in Romania's Olympic history. Other notable competitors on the Romanian team included tennis player

and his new partner

(both world no. 3) in the men's doubles, Russian-born freestyle wrestler

, handball team captain

Aurelia Brădeanu Aurelia Brădeanu (née Stoica; born 5 May 1979) is a Romanian handballer who last played for CSM Bucharest. She participated at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de ...

, and coxswain and former gymnast

Daniela Druncea Daniela Druncea (born 2 November 1990) is a Romanian rowing coxswain and retired artistic gymnast. As a gymnast, she is a world bronze medalist with the team and was an alternate to the 2008 Romanian Olympic team. As a rower, she won a bronze me ...

of the women's eight rowing crew. Fourteen-year-old swimmer Ana-Iulia Dascăl, who entered the Games through a universality invitation, was Romania's youngest competitor, with race walker Claudia Ștef rounding out the lineup as the oldest member (aged 38). , width=78% align=left valign=top , The following is the list of number of competitors who participated in the Games. Note that reserves in fencing, field hockey, football, gymnastics, handball and rowing are not counted as athletes:

Athletics

Romanian athletes achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event): A total of 18 athletes (six men and twelve women) were selected to the Romanian track and field team for the Games, including two-time Olympian Ancuța Bobocel (women's 3000 m steeplechase) and Athens 2004 silver medalist Marian Oprea (men's triple jump). ;Track & road events ;Men ;Women ;Field events

Boxing

Romania entered one boxer to compete in the following weight classes into the Olympic boxing tournament. Mihai Nistor was the only Romanian finishing among the top two of his respective weight division in the AIBA Pro Boxing series.

Cycling

Road

Romania qualified one rider in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of his top 200 individual ranking in the

2015 UCI Europe Tour The 2015 UCI Europe Tour was the eleventh season of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling arou ...

Fencing

Romanian fencers qualified a full squad in the women's team épée by virtue of their top four national finish in the FIE Olympic Team Rankings. Meanwhile, 2012 Olympic silver medalist

secured a spot on the Romanian team in the men's sabre by finishing among the top 14 individual fencers in the FIE Adjusted Official Rankings. Foil fencer Mălina Călugăreanu rounded out the Romanian roster by finishing among the top four individuals at the European Zonal Qualifier in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Gymnastics

Artistic

Romania did not send any all-around teams to the Olympics for the first time since

, despite

coming out of retirement. This ended the streak of winning a team medal in the event since

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

. Romania entered three artistic gymnasts into the Olympic competition. Four-time Olympic medalist

claimed his Olympic spot in the men's apparatus and all-around events at the 2015 World Championships, while two more places were awarded to one Romanian male and female gymnast, who participated at the Olympic Test Event in

. ;Men ;Women

Rhythmic

Romania qualified one rhythmic gymnast in the individual all-around for the Games by claiming one of eight available Olympic spots at the Olympic Test Event in

Handball

;Summary

Women's tournament

The Romanian women's handball team qualified for the Olympics by virtue of a top two finish at the second meet of the Olympic Qualification Tournament in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwe ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. ;Team roster ;Group play ---- ---- ---- ----

Judo

Romania qualified a total of four judokas for the following weight classes at the Games. Daniel Natea, Monica Ungureanu, London 2012 Olympian

Andreea Chițu Andreea Ștefania Chițu (born 7 May 1988) is a Romanian judoka who competes in the women's 52 kg category. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was defeated in the second round by Ilse Heylen, having beaten Soraya Haddad in the first round. ...

, and silver medalist

were ranked among the top 22 eligible judokas for men and top 14 for women in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.

Rowing

Romania qualified a total of five boats for each of the following rowing classes into the Olympic regatta. Three rowing crews confirmed Olympic places for their boats at the 2015 FISA World Championships in

Lac d'Aiguebelette Lac d'Aiguebelette is a natural lake in the commune of Aiguebelette-le-Lac, within the department of Savoie, France. Geography Description With a surface area of 5.45 km2 and a depth of 71 meters it is one of the largest natural lakes of F ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, while the rowers competing in the women's lightweight double sculls and women's eight were further added to the Romanian roster as a result of their top two finish at the 2016 European & Final Qualification Regatta in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. ;Men ;Women Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Shooting

Romania received a wildcard invitation from ISSF to send London 2012 champion Alin Moldoveanu in the men's air rifle to the Olympics, as long as the minimum qualifying score (MQS) was met by 31 March 2016. Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify for the next round; q = Qualify for the bronze medal (shotgun)

Swimming

Romanian swimmers achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):

Table tennis

Romania fielded a team of five athletes into the table tennis competition at the Games. Ovidiu Ionescu, along with two-time Olympians Elizabeta Samara and

Daniela Dodean Daniela Monteiro, née Dodean (born January 13, 1988 in Arad), is a Romanian professional table tennis player and European champion. She competed for Romania in the women's singles and team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, the women's singles at th ...

, were automatically selected among the top 22 eligible players each in their respective singles events based on the ITTF Olympic Rankings. Meanwhile, Adrian Crișan was granted an invitation from the ITTF to compete in the men's singles as one of the next seven highest-ranked eligible players, not yet qualified, on the Olympic Ranking List.

Bernadette Szőcs Bernadette Cynthia Szőcs ( hu, Szőcs Bernadette Cynthia; born 5 March 1995) is a professional table tennis player from Romania who is currently at a career World Table Tennis (ITTF) high ranking of No. 11. Career In September 2011, she trave ...

was awarded the third spot to build the women's team for the Games by virtue of a top 10 national finish in the ITTF Olympic Rankings.

Tennis

Romania entered seven tennis players into the Olympic tournament.

Irina-Camelia Begu Irina-Camelia Begu (born 26 August 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 22 in the world, in August 2016. Two years later, she reached her highest WTA doubles ranking, also No. 22. Begu ...

(world no. 28), Simona Halep (world no. 5), and

Monica Niculescu Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as high as 28 in singles and 11 in doubles. Niculescu has won several titles: three singles and ten doubl ...

(world no. 37) qualified directly among the top 56 eligible players for the women's singles based on the WTA World Rankings, while London 2012 Olympian

teamed up with his partner

in the men's doubles by virtue of his top 10 ATP ranking as of 6 June 2016.

Andreea Mitu Cristina-Andreea Mitu (born 22 September 1991) is a professional tennis player from Romania. On 8 June 2015, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of 68, and her best doubles ranking is world No. 69, reached on 24 October 2016. Mitu is ...

and

Raluca Olaru Ioana Raluca Olaru (born 3 March 1989) is a professional tennis player from Romania. The winner of 11 singles and 15 doubles ITF titles, Olaru reached one WTA singles final, at the 2009 Gastein Ladies,WTA TourPetkovic, Olaru Into Final(25 Jul ...

received a spare ITF Olympic place freed up by the Italians to join Begu and Niculescu in the women's doubles. On 15 July 2016, Halep pulled out from the Games due to her concerns about the Zika virus. ;Men ;Women ;Mixed

Weightlifting

Romanian weightlifters qualified three men's and two women's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

and 2015 IWF World Championships. The team had to allocate these places to individual athletes by 20 June 2016. On 19 November 2015, 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 ...

decided to strip one men's entry place from Romania because of "multiple positive cases" of doping.

Wrestling

Romania qualified a total of four wrestlers for each of the following weight classes into the Olympic competition. One of them finished among the top six to book Olympic spot in the men's Greco-Roman 98 kg at the 2015 World Championships, while another Olympic berth was awarded to the Romanian wrestler who progressed to the top two finals of the women's freestyle 48 kg at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament. Three further wrestlers claimed Olympic slots to round out the Romanian roster at the Olympic Qualification Tournaments; two of them at the

initial In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph tha ...

meet in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

and one more in the men's freestyle 98 kg at the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

meet in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. ;Men's freestyle ;Men's Greco-Roman ;Women's freestyle

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Romania, Olympics

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Nations at the 2016 Summer Olympics

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Medalists

Competitors

Athletics

Boxing

Cycling

Road

Fencing

Gymnastics

Artistic

Rhythmic

Handball

Women's tournament

Judo

Rowing

Shooting

Swimming

Table tennis

Tennis

Weightlifting

Wrestling

See also

References

External links