Nicolae Martinescu

Nicolae Martinescu (born February 24, 1940 in Vişani , Brăila district , † April 1, 2013 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian wrestler .

Career

Nicolae Martinescu grew up in Vișani and worked in agriculture as a teenager. He was later noticed by the wrestling trainer Stefan Babini when he won many first prizes in competitions among rural youth. Babini brought Martinescu to the Oțelul Galați sports club . Martinescu later wrestled for Dinamo Bucharest . He developed well and was first Romanian heavyweight champion (Greco-Roman style) in 1961. After taking second place in the heavyweight division at the Balkan Games in Athens in 1962, he was sent to the World Championships in Toledo / USA , where he immediately took a good 5th place in the heavyweight division (up to 97 kg body weight). From 1962 to 1976, i.e. for 15 years, he then competed in almost all Olympic Games, World and European Championships. He was only absent from the 1969 European Championships in Modena , when the Eastern Bloc countries did not take part for political reasons. He won eleven international medals and, as the culmination of his career, achieved the Olympic gold medal in 1972 in Munich . He wrestled exclusively in the Greco-Roman style. In these 15 years he was on the mat with all the great wrestlers of those years and fought hard but always fair.

After completing his career as an active wrestler, he worked in the Romanian Wrestling Association.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, GR = Greco-Roman style, HS = light heavyweight up to 1968 up to 97 kg body weight, from 1969 S = heavyweight, up to 100 kg body weight, SS = super heavyweight, over 100 kg body weight)

• 1962, 5th place , World Cup in Toledo / USA , GR, HS, with a victory over Tsuneharu Sugiyama, Japan , a draw against İsmet Atlı , Turkey and defeats against Rostom Abashidze , USSR and Bojan Radew , Bulgaria ;
• 1963, 2nd place , World Championships in Helsingborg , GR, HS, with victories over Walter Kleemann, Denmark , Renato Zanatta, Italy , Lucjan Sosnowski, Poland , József Csatári , Hungary, a draw against Hamit Kaplan , Turkey and a defeat against Abachidze;
• 1964, 4th place , OS in Tokyo , GR, HS, with victories over Eugen Wiesberger, Austria , Giyasettin Yilmaz, Turkey, Adelmo Bulgarelli , Italy , a draw against Sosnowski and a defeat against Radew;
• 1965, 6th place , World Championships in Tampere , GR, HS, with victories over Kenjirō Hiraki , Japan, Peter Jutzeler, Switzerland and Gürbüz Lü, Turkey and defeats against Radew and Valeri Anisimow, USSR;
• 1966, 1st place , EM in Essen , GR, HS, with victories over Lü, Per Svensson , Sweden , Athanssios Nikopoulos, Greece and a draw against Ferenc Kiss , Hungary, Alexei Karmatzki, USSR and Stefan Petrow , Bulgaria;
• 1966, 3rd place , World Championships in Toledo / USA, GR, HS, with victories against Gerald Conine, USA, Yacoub Abdoussalloum, Lebanon , Kiss, draw against Radew and Aimo Muchtenpää , Finland and one defeat against Anisomow;
• 1967, 10th place , EM in Minsk , GR, HS, with victory against Peter Wismer, GDR , a draw against Stefan Petrow and a defeat against Ferenc Kiss;
• 1967, 3rd place , World Cup in Bucharest , GR, HS, with victories over Jürgen Klinge, GDR, Ömer Topuz , Turkey, Heinz Kiehl , FRG and Hattori, Japan, one draw against Radew and one defeat against Nikolai Iwanowitsch Jakowenko , USSR;
• 1968, 4th place , EM in Västerås , GR, HS, with victories over Caj Malmberg, Finland, Waclaw Orlowski, Poland, Svensson and a draw against Anisimow and Ferenc Kiss;
• 1968, bronze medal , OS in Mexico City , GR, HS, with victories over Klinge, Kiss, Kiehl and defeats against Per Svensson, Radew and Yakowenko;
• 1969, 5th place , World Championship in Mar del Plata , GR, S, draw against Lennart Eriksson, Sweden and Tore Hem , Norway and defeat against Jakowenko;
• 1970, 7th place , EM in Berlin , GR, S, with victories over Nahit Taser, Turkey and defeats against Klinge and Marin Kolew, Bulgaria;
• 1970, 3rd place , World Championships in Edmonton , GR, SS, with victory over Istwan Semeredi, Yugoslavia , a draw against Csatari and defeats against Alexandar Tomow , Bulgaria and Anatoli Roschtschin , USSR;
• 1971, 2nd place , World Championships in Sofia , GR, S, with victories over Ferenc Kiss, Ashuri, Israel , Isao Yamaguchi, Japan, Wassili Merkulow, USSR, Per Svensson and one defeat against Marin Kolew;
• 1972, 3rd place , EM in Kattowitz , GR, S, with victories over Aimo Mypenpää , Heinz Eichelbaum , FRG, Hans Hirschbrunner, Switzerland , Fredi Albrecht , GDR and one defeat against Andrzej Skrzydlewski , Poland;
• 1972, gold medal , OS in Munich , GR, S, with victories over Makoto Saito, Japan, Christo Ignatow, Bulgaria, Nikolai Jakowenko, Fredi Albrecht and despite a defeat against Ferenc Kiss;
• 1973, 3rd place , EM in Helsinki , GR, S, with victories over Lorenz Hecher , FRG, Aark Curi, Albania , Markku Virtanen, Finland and defeats against Kamen Lozanow Goranow , Bulgaria and Nikolai Balboschin , USSR;
• 1973, 5th place , World Championships in Tehran , GR, S, with victory over Virtanen and defeats against Skrzydlewski and Lozanow;
• 1974, 7th place , EM in Madrid , GR, S, with victory over Tore Hem and defeats against Skrzydlewski and Lozanow;
• 1974, 3rd place , EM in Katowice , GR, S, with victories over Sven Erik Studsgaard, Denmark , Bahram Mostagi, Iran , Skrzydlewski, Pedro Pawlidis , FRG, Zdenek Chara, CSSR and defeats against Balboschin and Lozanow;
• 1975, 4th place , EM in Ludwigshafen , GR, S, with victory over Hem, Skrzydlewski and defeats against Jozsef Farkas, Hungary and Balboschin;
• 1975, 5th place , World Championship in Minsk , Gr, S, with victories over Chara, Lozanow, Skrzydlewski and defeats against Balboschin and Fredi Albrecht;
• 1976, 6th place , EM in Leningrad , GR, S, with victories over Hem, Heinz Schäfer, FRG and defeats against Balboschin and Lozanow;
• 1976, 7th place , OS in Montreal , GR, S, with victory over Robert Ndiaye, Senegal and defeats against Lozanow and Balboschin

Romanian championships

Nicolae Martinescu won 15 Romanian championship titles in the Greco-Roman style.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A murit fostul campion olimpic Nicolae Martinescu