[1] He began training at his local club CS Tractorul under Cătălin Albu, who also served as sparring partner in the absence of other sabre fencers in Brașov: the Olympic center was in Iași.

[1] The hard training regimen almost made him quit fencing when he was in high school, but he persevered and transferred in 2003 to CS Dinamo București.

[2] He was again tempted to retire because he was tired of commuting between Brașov and Bucharest,[3] but his former teammate Mihai Covaliu, now coach of the national team, persuaded him to go on.

[4] In the team event Romania created an upset by beating favourites Germany, France and Hungary to meet Italy in the final.

[4] Dumitrescu entered for the last bout on 40–34 for Italy and beat Aldo Montano 11–4 to win Romania their first World gold medal in sabre.