Sport in Romania
[1] Other popular sports include handball, volleyball, basketball, rugby union, tennis, and gymnastics.
[2] Many Romanian athletes have achieved significant success and have won World and European championships in numerous sports during the years.
It has been one of the more successful countries at the Summer Olympic Games, with a total of 307 medals won throughout the years, of which 89 gold ones, ranking 15th overall.
The most internationally known Romanian player is Gheorghe Hagi, who played for Steaua București (Romania), Real Madrid, FC Barcelona (Spain), and Galatasaray (Turkey), among others.
Other famous Romanian players include: Nicolae Dobrin, Ilie Balaci, Dudu Georgescu, Florea Dumitrache, Mircea Petescu, Dan Coe, Cornel Dinu, Marcel Răducanu, Mircea Lucescu, Anghel Iordănescu, Ion Dumitru, Rodion Cămătaru, Ladislau Boloni, Silviu Lung, Mircea Rednic, Gheorghe Popescu, Dan Petrescu, Constantin Gâlcă, Miodrag Belodedici, Dorinel Munteanu, Bogdan Stelea, Ioan Lupescu, Ilie Dumitrescu, Viorel Moldovan, Florin Răducioiu, Adrian Ilie, Bogdan Lobonț, Cosmin Contra, Cristian Chivu, Adrian Mutu, Răzvan Raț, Dorin Goian and Lucian Sânmărtean.
Romania has produced many great handball players, including Gheorghe Gruia, Alexandru Dedu, Vasile Stângă, Mircea Costache II, Petre Ivănescu, Cornel Penu, Alexandru Buligan, Marian Dumitru, Cristian Gaţu and Cristian Zaharia.
On the women's side, the top Romanians include: four times IHF World Player of the Year winner Cristina Neagu, Luminița Dinu, Mariana Tîrcă, Narcisa Lecușanu, Valentina Elisei and Cristina Vărzaru.
Other prominent Romanian basketballers include Mihai Albu, Dragoș Nosievici, Costel Cernat, Constantin Popa, Virgil Stănescu and Vlad Moldoveanu.
The Romanian CEC Bank SuperLiga is the Premier Club Rugby Competition in Romania which first commenced in 1914 and has been played almost uninterrupted since then.
The first Romanian fencer to reach the podium in a major international competition was Maria Vicol, who earned a silver medal at the 1956 Junior World Championships in Luxembourg.
Six Romanians feature in the Hall of Fame of the International Fencing Federation: Laura Badea, Mihai Covaliu, Ana Pascu, Petru Kuki, Ioan Pop and Reka Szabo.
Three Romanian athletes are currently amongst the ten top-ranked fencers: Ana Maria Brânză and Simona Gherman in women's épée and Tiberiu Dolniceanu in men's sabre.
Other famous gymnasts include: Daniela Silivaş, Ecaterina Szabo, Lavinia Miloşovici, Gina Gogean, Simona Amânar, Andreea Răducan, Maria Olaru, Cătălina Ponor, Sandra Izbaşa, Larisa Iordache, Ana Bărbosu, and Sabrina Voinea.
Gymnastics has a very long tradition in Romania, which goes back in time decades before the major success of Montreal.
[5] In women's tennis, Magda Rurac, Virginia Ruzici, Irina Spîrlea, and Ruxandra Dragomir are among the top Romanian players of all time.
Among active players, the top Romanians include Simona Halep, Sorana Cîrstea, Mihaela Buzărnescu, Irina Begu, Monica Niculescu.
Simona Halep has won two Grand Slam singles titles: the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, and was the year-end No.
Famous boxers include: Nicolae Linca, Francisc Vaştag, Mihai Leu, Lucian Bute, Leonard Doroftei, and Adrian Diaconu.
Transilvania Motor Ring is the first permanent circuit in Romania, and was opened in November 2018 near Târgu Mureș.
