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 Romanian endurance runner Tibi Useriu won the 6633 Arctic Ultra, one of the hardest ultra-marathons in the world, for the second time this year. He is the only athlete in the world to have completed this quest twice. He also launched an autobiographical book at the beginning of this year, a recollection of his struggles before becoming a hero in his home country. 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 Romania’s women’s table tennis team won the European Table Tennis Championship on September 17, after a dramatic final against reigning champions Germany. The Romanian team, which was made up of Elizabeta Samara, Bernadette Szocs, Daniela Dodean-Monteiro, Irina Ciobanu and Adina Diaconu, won the match 3-2 and got their first European gold medal since 2005. Avram Iancu Romanian librarian Avram Iancu, who last year swam across the English Channel without a neoprene suit, achieved yet another great performance in 2017 as he managed to swim 2,800 km along the River Danube without thermal protection. He thus became the first person in the world to complete this swimming race without a neoprene suit or other aid items. His long journey began on June 20 from Donaueschingen, Germany, and ended on September 16 in Sulina, Romania. Laurentiu Serban and Ciprian Iriciuc