Ionel Alexandru "Ion" Drîmbă (also Drâmbă, March 18, 1942 – February 20, 2006) was 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 ...

n fencer. He competed at the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympics and won the first ever Olympic gold medal in fencing for Romania in 1968.

Biography

Drîmbă was born in 1942 in

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

, in a working-class family. His father worked at the post office. He took up fencing aged 8 at the local club "Flacăra roșie" following his elder brother and quickly showed talent: he competed with seniors from the age of 13 both in

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

and

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

and joined the national foil team at age 16. In 1959, he won the junior national championships in both weapons. Drîmbă transferred to

CSA Steaua București Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua București, commonly known as CSA Steaua București () or simply Steaua, is a major Sports club, multi-sports club based in Bucharest and run by the Ministry of National Defence of Romania, Ministry of National D ...

in 1960, when he was 18. He did not however join the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

, of which Steaua is the sports club, but worked as a civilian employee. That same year, he won the national championship in foil and won a silver medal in foil and reached the semi-finals in sabre at the Junior European Championships in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. He took part in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

in Rome but did not earn any medal. He won a silver medal at the Junior World Championships in 1963. During this period he got to know foil fencer and fellow Stelist Ileana Gyulai, who would become his wife. Drîmbă became team world champion in 1967 along with

Ștefan Ardeleanu Ștefan Ardeleanu (born 1940) is a Romanian fencing, fencer and coach. Career Ardeleanu took up fencing with coach Alexandru Csipler at local clubs Unio, then Olimpia Satu Mare, before transferring to CSA Steaua București under coach Vasile Ch ...

Iuliu Falb Iuliu Falb (14 December 1942 – 2009) was a Romanian fencer. He competed in the team foil events at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics. Career Falb took up fencing under the coaching of Andrei Altman at the local club "Flacăra Ro� ...

Tănase Mureșanu Tănase Mureșanu (22 May 1940 – 6 March 2007) is a Romanian foil fencer. Career Mureșanu took up fencing when he was 11 years old under coach Angelo Pellegrini at CS Progresul in Bucharest. He won the junior national championship in 195 ...

and

Mihai Țiu Mihai Țiu (born 25 January 1946) is a Romanian fencer. He competed in the individual and team foil events at the 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () ...

. For this performance he was named "honored sports master" (). A year later he earned the first gold medal of Romanian fencing at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

with nineteen victories and two defeats."1968 Summer Olympics – Mexico City, Mexico – Fencing"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on June 19, 2008) He also became European champion in 1968 and 1969. He was named the best foilist in the world by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS). The Romanian Government however failed to deliver the promised car and gave out only half the monetary reward it had initially announced. Dissatisfied with the way he and the other high-performance athletes were treated in Romania, Drîmbă defected in 1970 to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

during his stay in Paris for the Challenge Martini, a

Fencing World Cup The Fencing World Cup is an international fencing competition held by the International Fencing Federation. In each weapon (Men's and Women's Épée, Sabre and Foil), three Grand Prix, five World Cup events and several satellite events are conte ...

competition: he escaped an official dinner and found refuge at the West-German embassy. His name was subsequently deleted from official Romanian sports records. Drîmbă worked for about two years as a coach in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

under a contract with the German Fencing Federation. He trained amongst other German champions Matthias Behr and Alexander Pusch. He then left for the United States and settled down first in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, where he taught Fencing at Pima Community College. He met and married Cinda Gibson, with the hope of gaining citizenship, and they had a son, Jeffrey. They were divorced, and he then moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he opened his own fencing school. He also coached in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

before opening another school, this time in Brazil. He remarried and had four children. In 1996 he decided to return to Romania, where his name had been reinstated in historical records after the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, in the hope that his coaching experience abroad would be rewarded. He received the grade of officer in the

Order For Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order re ...

, but he did not get any job offer. He also had to retire his candidacy to the

Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (, COSR) is responsible for Romania's participation in the Olympic Games. History The Romanian Olympic Committee () was formed in 1914 in Bucharest. In 2004 it changed its name to ''Romanian Olympic an ...

. Disappointed, he went back to Brazil, where he died in 2006.

Awards

*''Sport Merit, First Class'' *''Honored Sports Master'' ("Maestru emerit al sportului")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drimba, Ion 1942 births 2006 deaths Romanian male fencers Romanian foil fencers Olympic fencers for Romania Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Romanian defectors Romanian sportspeople of Hungarian descent Sportspeople from Timișoara 20th-century Romanian sportsmen