Mihaela Dascălu (born 12 February 1970) is a retired

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 ...

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marath ...

, and the most successful speed skater from that country.

Biography

Dascălu was born in the city of Braşov, and first trained as a

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

before changing to speed skating. She debuted at the 1987 World Junior Championships, where she finished seventh. The following year she finished ninth, but was later disqualified for doping use along with her teammate

Cerasela Hordobețiu Cerasela Simona Hordobețiu (born 11 October 1968) is a Romanian speed skater. She competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 1994 Winter Olympics. Hordobețiu made her debut at international championships in the 1987 World Junior Champions ...

, making it impossible for her to make the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

at Calgary. She returned to the international scene in 1991, and finished sixth in the 1000 meter during the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

, the best Romanian Olympic speed skating finish of all time. In the 1994

World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world. The event is held over two days, with all skaters entering the first three distances (500 m, ...

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the 2 ...

she won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

. In the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

she finished eighth in two events, the 1500 meter and the 3000 meter. She continued to compete through the 1990s, with numerous top ten finishes, such as a seventh-place finish in the Women's European Championships in 1996, and sixth the following year in the same competition. She finished third in 3000 meter at the 6th

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

1995-1996 and the World Cup Final 1995-1996, with her also finishing third in the latter in the 1500 meter. She had second-place finishes in the 3000 meter during the 9th World Cup 1995-1996 and the World Cup Final 1996-1997. She also finished second in 1000 meter during the 7th World Cup 1995-1996, as well as second in the 1500 meter during the 7th World Cup 1996-1997. At the 4th World Cup 1996-1997 she finished third in the 5000 meter, followed by a first-place finish the following year in that same event during the 7th World Cup 1996-1997. She retired after the 1998 season, on the heels of her worst finish during the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

, where she finished 34th.

References

External links

*
International Allround Champions, Womens Speed Skating
from the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

Mihaela Dascalu
from skateresults.com

from staff.science.uva.nl/~jellekok {{DEFAULTSORT:Dascalu, Mihaela 1970 births Living people Romanian female speed skaters Olympic speed skaters for Romania Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Romanian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in speed skating Sportspeople from Brașov Winter World University Games medalists in speed skating World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists FISU World University Games silver medalists for Romania Competitors at the 1991 Winter Universiade