Ion Panţuru (11 September 1934 – 17 January 2016) was a Romanian

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobs ...

der. He competed in two-man and four-man events at the 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics and served as the Olympic flag bearer for Romania in 1964 and 1972. Panţuru took up bobsleigh at the age of 24, after playing as a football goalkeeper at the Divizia B-level. At the 1968 Games he won a bronze medal with brakeman Nicolae Neagoe, which remains Romania's only medal at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

. At the same Olympics he was also close to a bronze medal in the four-man competition, placing fourth. At the

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since FIBT World Championships 1930, 1930. Starting with 2002, no Wo ...

he won two medals in the two-man event, together with another brakeman Dumitru Focșeneanu, with a silver in 1969 and a bronze in 1973. At the European championships Panţuru won four-man gold medals in 1967 and 1971, placing second in four-man in 1968–69 and in two-man events in 1967 and 1969; he also won a four-man bronze medal in 1970. Panţuru lost his 1969 World Championships medal in a car on his way to the airport. The medal was found in a basement 30 years later, and returned to Panțuru. After retiring from competitions he worked as a national bobsleigh coach. For his sports achievements he was made an honorary citizen of three Romanian towns: Comarnic,

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after ...

and Busteni.

References

External links

1972 bobsleigh four-man results

* * * 1934 births 2016 deaths People from Comarnic Romanian male bobsledders Olympic bobsledders for Romania Bobsledders at the 1964 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 1968 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 1972 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 1976 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in bobsleigh Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Prahova County 20th-century Romanian sportsmen {{Romania-bobsleigh-bio-stub