Constantin Alexandru

Constantin Alexandru

Constantin Alexandru (born December 15, 1953 in Constanța ; † August 10, 2014 ) was a Romanian wrestler . He was the winner of a silver medal at the 1980 Olympic Games and was world and European champion in Greco-Roman style in paper weight.

Career

Constantin Alexandru grew up in Constanța and started wrestling there as a teenager. He was discovered by the well-known and successful coach Constantin Ofițerescu , who then trained him at the wrestling club CS Farul Constanța . The 1.58 meter tall athlete was the first Romanian senior champion in 1973 and then moved to the Army Sports Club , which was called Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua Bucharest . He wrestled exclusively in the Greco-Roman style. In Romania, Constantin Alexandru had to deal with Gheorghe Berceanu , the 1972 Olympic champion, in his weight class , whom he replaced step by step from 1973 onwards. When Berceanu resigned after the Olympic Games in 1976, he dominated the wrestling scene in his weight class in Romania alone until 1980.

Constantin Alexandru's international career began in 1973 at the World Cup in Tehran . There he was not able to place himself in the front field. He won in Tehran only against Tseren Lhajav from Mongolia and fought against Stefan Angelow from Bulgaria . Against Moradali Shirbani from Iran and Ferenc Seres from Hungary he lost and came in 7th place. At the European Championships in Madrid in 1974 he was much more successful, because he won there in paperweight with wins over Ferenc Seres, Hungary, Stefan Angelow, Bulgaria, Salih Bora , Turkey , Alexei Schumakow , USSR , all wrestlers, on which he also in the next Years, as well as Antonio Quastelli , Italy and Haralambos Holidis , Greece , the European title. At the 1974 World Cup in Katowice, he took an excellent 2nd place. He only had to admit defeat to defending champion Vladimir Subkov from the USSR.

In 1975 he repeated the title win at the European Championships in Ludwigshafen am Rhein , where he achieved victories over Pawel Christow from Bulgaria, Raimo Hirvonen , Finland , Janusz Kosinski, Poland, Sotirios Ventas, Greece, Ferenc Seres and Alexei Schumakow . In 1975 Constantin Alexandru started for the first time at the Grand Prix of the Federal Republic of Germany in Aschaffenburg and won this tournament ahead of Georgi Georgiev from Bulgaria. In the course of his career he started in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980 in this tournament and managed the feat of winning in all these years and with Vladimir Subkov , Saksylik Uschkempirow , Vladimir Shatunov , all of the USSR, Roman Kierpacz , Poland and Bernd Scherer , FRG, to relegate world class wrestlers to their places.

At the 1975 World Cup in Minsk , Constantin Alexandru had to switch to the flyweight because Gheorghe Berceanu started in the paper weight category . It turned out that he couldn't quite keep up in terms of strength in this weight class. He won there over Bruce Thompson from the United States, Heinz Schmidt from the GDR and Haralambos Holidis , but lost to Lajos Rácz from Hungary a. Baek Seung-hyun from South Korea and came in 6th place.

In 1976 Constantin Alexandru, again in the paper weight, was only at the European championship at the start because Gheorghe Berceanu qualified for a start at the Olympic Games in Montreal at the Romanian Olympic elimination . At the European Championships in 1976 in Leningrad , Constantin Alexandru had to admit defeat in the final against Alexei Shumakov after he had previously beaten Salih Bora , Ferenc Seres and Janusz Kosinski.

In 1977 Constantin Alexandru won the European title in paper weight for the third time at the European Championships in Bursa . He won over Vicente Sanchez from Spain , Georgi Georgijew, Salih Bora , Anatoli Bosin , USSR a. Wieslaw Kucinski , Poland. He then experienced a major setback at the 1977 World Cup in Gothenburg . He was defeated there against Wieslaw Kucinski u. against Yoshineru Morikawi from Japan and was eliminated after the 2nd round. He only placed 10th.

1978 turned out to be an absolute success for Constantin Alexandru. He was first European paperweight champion in Oslo , for the fourth time, defeating Anatoli Bosin, Cluzeland, France , Hakama, Albania , Salih Bora and Dietmar Hinz , GDR, and then he became world champion for the first time in Mexico City in autumn of that year . He defeated Jozsef Santha from Hungary, Salih Bora, Dietmar Hinz, Alexei Schumakow and Roman Kierpacz from Poland.

In 1979 Constantin Alexandru accomplished the feat of repeating these 1978 successes. He became European champion for the fifth time in Bucharest with victories over Jozsef Santha, Pawel Christow , Roman Kierpacz and Anatoli Bosin and for the second time in San Diego with victories over Jorge Martinez, Cuba , Greg Williams, USA , Ferenc Seres , Alexei Schumakow and Pawel Christow World champion .

In 1980 this successful streak broke down suddenly. At the European Championships in Prievidza he lost to Roman Kierpacz and to Freddy Scherer from Germany and only came in 9th place. At the Olympic Games in Moscow he was in better shape again. He lost his first fight there against Saksylik Uschkempirow , but then won the Olympic silver medal with victories over Saber Nakdali from Syria , Alfredo Oltera from Mexico , Pawel Christow and Ferenc Seres .

Constantin Alexandru continued his career in 1981, but had to realize at the European Championships of that year in Gothenburg that he had lost a lot of his physical capacity through constant training. He came in Gothenburg in flyweight only on the 5th place, which he fought after a defeat against Ljubomir Zenkow from Bulgaria with a victory over Leszek Majkowski from Poland. He announced his retirement after this championship.

In 1983, however, Romania did not have a powerful flyweight wrestler available for the international championships. Constantin Alexandru then declared himself ready to start again at the European Championships in Budapest and the World Championships in Kiev . In both championships he won no more medals. In Budapest it was 5th and in Kiev it was only 9th.

Constantin Alexandru was after his career as a wrestler coach at Steaua Bucharest.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class
1973	1.	Intern. Tournament in Constanța	paper	before Gheorghe Berceanu , Romania and Fritz Schmidt, FRG
1973	3.	"Pytlasinski" tournament in Warsaw	paper	behind Pawel Christow , Bulgaria and Vladimir Schatumow, USSR
1973	7th	World Cup in Tehran	paper	with a win over Tseren Lhajav, Mongolia , a draw against Stefan Angelow , Bulgaria and defeats against Moradali Shibani, Iran and Ferenc Seres , Hungary
1974	2.	Klippan tournament	paper	behind Alexei Schumakow , USSR , in front of Dietmar Hinz , GDR
1974	2.	"Ivan-Poddubny -" tournament in Leningrad	paper	behind Metvedayev, in front of Vladimir Shatumov, bde. USSR
1974	1.	EM in Madrid	paper	with victories over Ferenc Seres , Stefan Angelow , Salih Bora , Turkey , Alexei Schumakow , Antonio Quastelli, Italy and Haralambos Holidis , Greece
1974	1.	"Werner-Seelenbinder" tournament in Rostock	paper	before Cheraichev, USSR a. Dietmar Hinz , GDR
1974	2.	World Cup in Katowice	paper	with victories over Antonin Jelinek, ČSSR , Dietmar Hinz, Georgi Georgijew , Bulgaria, Salih Bora u. Karoly Kancsar, USA a . a loss to Vladimir Zubkov , USSR
1975	2.	Intern. Tournament in Galați	paper	behind Gheorghe Berceanu , in front of Mircea Secosan, bde. Romania and Salih Bora
1975	1.	Grand Prix of the Federal Republic of Germany in Aschaffenburg	paper	before Georgi Georgijew, Otto Köb, Austria and Heinz Schmieden, FRG
1975	1.	EM in Ludwigshafen am Rhein	paper	with victories over Pawel Christow , Raimo Hirvonen , Finland , Janusz Kosinski, Poland , Sotirios Ventas, Greece , Ferenc Seres and Alexei Schumakow
1975	1.	"Werner-Seelenbinder" tournament in Leipzig	paper	before Stefan Angelow and Dietmar Hinz
1975	6th	World Cup in Minsk	To fly	with victories over Bruce Thompson, USA , Heinz Schmidt, GDR and Haralambos Holidis and defeats against Lajos Rácz , Hungary and Baek Seung-hyun , South Korea
1976	2.	EM in Leningrad	paper	with victories over Salih Bora , Ferenc Seres u. Janusz Kosinski et al. a loss to Alexei Shumakov
1976	1.	Grand Prix of the FRG in Aschaffenburg	paper	before Wladimir Subkow and Jürgen Kleer , FRG
1977	1.	EM in Bursa	paper	with victories over Vicente Sanchez, Spain , Georgi Georgijew, Salih Bora , Anatoli Bosin , USSR and Wieslaw Kucinski , Poland
1977	1.	Grand Prix of the FRG in Aschaffenburg	paper	before Saksylik Uschkempirow , USSR, Wieslaw Kucinski and Jürgen Kleer
1977	10.	World Cup in Gothenburg	paper	after losing to Wieslaw Kucinski and Yoshineru Moriwaki, Japan
1978	2.	"Ivan Poddubny" tournament in Minsk	paper	behind Anikin, USSR, in front of Wieslaw Kucinski
1978	1.	EM in Oslo	paper	with victories over Anatoli Bosin, Cluzeland, France , Hakrama, Albania , Salih Bora and Dietmar Hinz
1978	1.	Grand Prix of the FRG in Aschaffenburg	paper	in front of Vladimir Schatumow, USSR and Roman Kierpacz , Poland
1978	1.	World Cup in Mexico City	paper	with victories over Jozsef Santha , Hungary, Salih Bora , Dietmar Hinz, Alexei Schumakow and Roman Kierpacz
1979	1.	EM in Bucharest	paper	with victories over Jozsef Santha, Pawel Christow , Roman Kierpacz and Anatoli Bosin
1979	1.	Grand Prix of the FRG in Aschaffenburg	paper	before Roman Kierpacz and Funikaro Sasaki, Japan
1979	1.	World Cup in San Diego	paper	with victories over Jorge Martinez, Cuba , Greg Williams, USA , Ferenc Seres , Alexei Schumakow and Pawel Christow
1980	9.	EM in Prievidza	paper	after defeats against Roman Kierpacz and Freddy Scherer , FRG
1980	1.	Grand Prix of the FRG in Aschaffenburg	paper	before Bernd Scherer , FRG, Roman Kierpacz , Kent Andersson , Sweden and Ferenc Seres
1980	silver	OS in Moscow	paper	after a defeat against Saksylik Uschkempirow and victories over Saber Nakdali, Syria , Alfredo Oltera, Mexico , Pawel Christow and Ferenc Seres
1981	5.	EM in Gothenburg	To fly	after a defeat against Ljubomir Zenkow , Bulgaria and victories over Jean-Pierre Chambellan, France, Lajos Rácz, Hungary and Leszek Majkowski, Poland
1981	2.	Universities World Cup in Bucharest	paper	behind Timor Taimuras Kasarashvili , USSR, in front of Hidekazu Ozawa, Japan and Mark Fuller , USA
1983	5.	EM in Budapest	To fly	behind Lajos Rácz, Sergei Djudajew , USSR, Roman Kierpacz and Mladen Mladenow , Bulgaria
1983	9.	World Cup in Kiev	To fly	Winner: Benur Paschajan , USSR ahead of Erol Kemah , Turkey and Lyubomit Zenkow

Romanian championships

Constantin Alexandru won the Romanian Greco-Roman style paperweight championship seven times between 1973 and 1981.

Note: all competitions in the Greco-Roman style, OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, paper weight, then up to 48 kg, flyweight, then up to 52 kg body weight

swell

• Documentation of FILA's International Wrestling Championships , 1976,
• Trade magazines Athletik and Der Ringer ,
• Database of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig

Web links

• Profile of Constantin Alexandru at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Constantin Alexandru in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Constantin Alexandru, vicecampion olimpic şi multiplu campion mondial la lupte, sa stins din viaţă