Violeta Szekely, née Beclea (born 26 March 1965, in Dolheștii Mari,

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county ('' ro, județ'') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat is the historical town ...

) is a

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 ...

n former

middle distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

who competed mainly in the

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 ...

. She competed in two

Olympic Games 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 var ...

, in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. She was favored to win the 2000 Summer Olympics 1500 metres after a stellar season, but getting boxed in around the final curb would cost her the gold medal. She only got out about 80 metres from the end and while she made up considerable ground was unable to catch the ground lost while trapped inside to surprise winner Nouria Merah-Benida. She was also favored to win the 2001 World 1500 metre title after dominating the Golden League series, but was beaten out by bitter rival and teammate

Gabriela Szabo Gabriela Szabo (, hu, Szabó Gabriella; born 14 November 1975) is a retired Romanian runner. She competed in the 1500 m and 5000 m events at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal. Szabo is a three-time world c ...

. She did however win a share of the golden league jackspot, by winning all of her Golden league 1500 metre races this season. Szekely retired after the 2002 season.

Doping

Beclea tested positive for steroids in February 1995 and was subsequently handed a four-year ban from sports. She also lost the fourth place from the 1500 m at the

1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Personal bests

* 800 Metres – 1:58.57 (1998) * 1000 Metres – 2:36.74 (1989) * 1500 Metres – 3:58.29 (2000) * One Mile – 4:21.69 (1993) * 2000 Metres – 5:48.8 (1998) * 3000 Metres – 8:47.3 (1998)

Major achievements

Other achievements: * Tenth place in the 1500 m. at the 1991 IAAF World Championships * Fourth place in 800 m. at the 1989 World Indoor Championships * Fifth place in 3000 m. at the 1999 World Indoor Championships * Fourth place in 1500 m. at the 1999 World Championships

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Szekely, Violeta 1965 births Living people Doping cases in athletics Sportspeople from Suceava County Romanian female middle-distance runners Romanian sportspeople in doping cases Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics IAAF Golden League winners Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Goodwill Games gold medalists in athletics