Athletes of the year: Who took Romania’s flag to the heights of glory?
Romania’s national football team may have lost yet another chance to play at the World Cup, but a handful Romanian athletes have made their countrymen proud of their performances in 2017.
“Ice Man” Tibi Useriu
Horia Colibasanu
Romanian climber Horia Colibasanu managed to climb Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, on May 16, without extra oxygen or Sherpa support. Everest is the eighth 8000-meter peak in Colibasanu’s portfolio. In 2004, he climbed the K2, the world’s second highest peak at 8,611 meters above sea level, without additional oxygen or the help of Sherpas. He also climbed Manaslu (8.163 m), Dhaulagiri (8.167 m), Shishapangma (8.027 m), Annapurna (8.091 m), Makalu (8.463 m), and Lhotse (8.516 m).
On the same day and only a few hours after, another Romanian climber, Justin Ionescu, summitted the Everest following another route.
The women’s table tennis team
Avram Iancu
Laurentiu Serban and Ciprian Iriciuc
Lieutenant Ciprian Iriciuc, who was wounded during a mission in Afghanistan two years ago, won the second medal for Romania at the 2017 Invictus Games. He got the bronze medal in the Indoor Swimming competition
Simona Halep
Halep won 45 matches this year and only lost 17. She only won one tournament, the Madrid Open, but she also played several finals, including the French Open final, which she surprisingly lost to Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. Despite failing to win a Grand Slam title, she had a constant performance throughout the year and managed to win USD 5.2 million from prizes.
Here are some of the highlights of Halep’s evolution in 2017:
Simona Halep starts 2017 on fourth place, three other Romanians in top 100 WTA
Simona Halep out of Australian Open, may not play for a while
Romania’s Simona Halep wins second Madrid title after exhausting final
Romania’s Halep reaches second WTA final in a week
Romanian loses to Latvian in French Open tennis final
Romania’s tennis ace Simona Halep, one win away from world No.1
Romania’s Simona Halep misses No.1 spot once again
Romania’s Simona Halep stops in US Open first round
Romania’s Simona Halep breaks Sharapova curse in Beijing
Romania’s Simona Halep becomes world’s top tennis player
Romania’s Simona Halep wins Thailand championship, receives substantial prize
editor@romania-insider.com