Alina Dumitru (; born 30 August 1982) is a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

, Olympic Gold medallist and multiple European champion. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

she became Romania's first judoka to win an Olympic Gold medal.

Career

Early life

Dumitru was born on 30 August 1982. She trained with Romania's national judo team under coach Florin Bercean.

2008 Summer Olympics

At the

Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium The Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium () is an indoor arena located on the campus of the University of Science and Technology Beijing. Construction The venue covers an area of 2.38 hectares and the total floor space of construc ...

, Dumitru reached the Women's 48 kg semifinals. There she faced Japanese double gold medalist Ryoko Tani, who until then had been undefeated in major international competitions for 12 years. She defeated Tani by " keikoku" and described her semifinal victory as "a dream". In the final she overcame Yanet Bermoy from Cuba, taking just 80 seconds to win the bout by

ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In judo In judo, an ''ippon'' may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the ...

. In doing so, Dumitru became the first Romanian judoka to win a gold medal in the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

2012 Summer Olympics

Dumitru took part in the

Judo at the 2012 Summer Olympics The judo competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games in London were held from 28 July to 3 August at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. Qualification Qualification was based on the world ranking list prepared by the International Judo Federation o ...

. She defeated Mongolian Mönkhbatyn Urantsetseg in the quarter finals in a close contest. In the semifinals, Dumitru beat world number one Tomoko Fukumi, her first victory against the opponent after four defeats. She lost in the final against Brazilian Sarah Menezes to win a silver medal, which was Romania's first medal at the London Olympics. In 2013 she announced her retirement from the sport.

Other events

Dumitru won nine medals, seven gold and two silver, at the European Judo Championships. She also won three bronze medals at the World Championships.

Awards

Dumitru was decorated by the president of Romania,

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

, with Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" ("Sportive Merit" Medal) class I. She was given the award of ''Cetățean de onoare'' (" Honorary Citizen") of her hometown

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

in 2008. In 2012 she received the title Honorary Citizen of

Cluj County Cluj County () is a county () of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Kolozs megye''. Under the Kingdom of Hungary, a county with an identical name (Kolozs County, ) existed s ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dumitru, Alina 1982 births Living people Martial artists from Bucharest Romanian female judoka Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka for Romania Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in judo Olympic silver medalists for Romania Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics 20th-century Romanian sportswomen 21st-century Romanian sportswomen