Romanian Sports History

Romanian Sports HistoryGymnastics

Romania holds a long tradition in artistic gymnastics, especially in the ladies competition.Gymnasticsis responsible for the majority of Romania's Olympic medals, gold, silver, and bronze. The most famous Romanian gymnast is Nadia Comneci, who was the first gymnast to ever score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games, during the1976 Summer Olympics.Nadia ComneciNadia Comneci was born inOneti,Romania, as the daughter of Gheorghe and tefania-Alexandrina Comneci.At the age of 14, Comneci became one of the stars of the1976 Summer OlympicsinMontral. During the team portion of the competition on July 18, her routine on the uneven bars was awarded a perfect ten . It was the first time in modern Olympic gymnastics history that the score had ever been awarded.

WhenOmega SA, the traditional Olympics scoreboard manufacturer, asked before the 1976 games whether four digits would be necessary for gymnastics, it was told that a perfect 10.00was not possible. Nadia's perfect marks were thus displayed as 1.00 instead. The crowd was at first confused, but soon understood and gave her a rousing ovation.

TennisIlie Nstase, a famous Romanian tennis player, is another internationally known Romanian sports star. He won severalGrand Slamtitles and dozens of other tournaments and was the first player to be ranked as number 1 byATPfrom 1973 to 1974; he also was a successful doubles player withIon iriac

Ilie NstaseBorn 19 July 1946 is aRomanianformerWorld No. 1professionaltennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Nstase was ranked World No. 1 between 1973 (August 23) and 1974 (June 2). He is one of the five players in history to win more than 100ATPprofessional titles (58 singles and 45 in doubles). He was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Famein 1991. Nstase won sevenGrand Slamtitles: two in singles, three in men's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. He also won fourMasters Grand Prixyear-end championship titles and sevenChampionship Seriestitles (197073), the precursors to the currentMasters 1000. In 2005,Tennis magazineranked him as the 28th-best player of the preceding 40 years. He is the second male player to win a Grand Slam event without dropping a set and the first one to achieve this feat at the French Open (1973).

HandballHandballis the second most popular sport in Romania, after football. TheRomania national handball teamhas won the Handball World Cup a record four times (1961, 1964, 1970, and 1974). The only other team to have matched this record is Sweden in 1999. TheRomania women's national handball teamhas won the Handball World Cup in 1962. Steaua and Dinamo have also won several European titles over the years.

FootballFootballis the most popular sport in Romania. The most internationally known Romanian player isGheorghe HagiThe top football teams in Romania includeSteaua Bucureti,Dinamo Bucureti,Rapid Bucureti,CFR Cluj, andFC Timioara.TheRomanian national football teamhas taken part seven times in theFIFA World Cup, and it had a very successful period through the 1990s, reaching the quarter-finals in the1994 FIFA World Cupin theUnited States, when the "Golden Generation" was at its best.

Along with Brazil, France and Belgium,Romaniawere one of only four teams to compete in each of the first three editions of the FIFA World Cup. Having been invited to play in the 1930 edition,Romaniaqualified for the 1934 tournament with a 2-1 win over Yugoslavia before qualifying by default in 1938 following Egypts withdrawal.

Rowing and CanoeingRomanian oarspeople have brought numerous successes, including 35 Olympic medals (18 gold) forrowingand 34 medals (10 gold) forcanoeing. Romania is a leading rowing nation. Often boasting many wins each year in the Junior World Rowing Championships. In the under-23's age level, Romania often field a strong team. Often medalling in the women's events.The Romanian Senior Women's rowing team is particularly strong. They have been the poster child team as regards women's rowing. They consistently perform in the coxed women's eight. In the Olympics, they won the women's coxless pair. This was one of the team members sixth Olympic gold medal. Now she is the most decorated female rower in history.

Romania at the OlympicsRomaniafirst participated at theOlympic Gamesin 1900, with a single participant. TheNational Olympic Committeefor Romania is theRomanian Olympic and Sports Committee, and was created and recognized in 1914. The nation first sent a team to compete at the Games in 1924, and has only missed two editions each of theSummer Olympic GamesandWinter Olympic Gamessince then. Notably, Romania was the loneEastern Blocnation to participate at the1984 Summer Olympics, which the other nationsboycotted. That was also Romania's most successful Olympic Games: they won 20 gold medals and 53 medals total.Romanian athletes have won a total of 302 medals, withgymnasticsas the top medal-producing sport.Romania has won the second highest total number of medals of nations that have never hosted the Games.

OinIs aRomaniantraditional sport, similar in many ways tobaseballandlapta.Oin was first mentioned during the rule ofVlaicu Vodin 1364, when it spread all acrossWallachia. Its origins are disputed, theories ranging from a shepherd game to a war game.In 1899,Spiru Haret, the minister of education decided that oin was to be played in schools inphysical educationclasses. He organized the first annual oin competitions.The Romanian Oin Federation ("Federaia Romn de Oin") was founded in 1932, and was reactivated at the beginning of the 1950s, after a brief period when it was dissolved.Today, there are two oin federations: one inBucharest,Romaniaand another one inChiinu,Moldova.