Fencing Olympic champion elected president of the Romanian Olympic Committee

Retired sabre fencer Mihai Covaliu, an Olympic champion in at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and world champion in 2005, won the elections for president of the Romanian Olympic Committee - COSR. He ran against former Romanian runner Gabriela Szabo, who also won the Olympic gold medal in the 5,000-meter race in Sydney. Covaliu, who is also president of Romania’s Fencing Federation, got 128 votes, while Szabo only got 68. The Romanian Olympic Committee’s main task is to prepare Romania’s presence at the Olympic Games and to select the athletes that represent the country in this important competition. The former COSR president, former rugby player Alin Petrache, resigned after Romania’s poor results at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The new president will have to prepare Romania’s participation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Mihai Covaliu, 39, started fencing at nine. His first big result came in 2000, when he surprisingly won the Olympic gold medal in the individual sabre competition. He also won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also got one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals at the World Championships, and several medals at the European Championships. He retired in 2008 and became head coach of the Romanian sabre team, which he led to several big international performances, including a team silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. In 2013, Covaliu was elected president of the Romanian Fencing Federation. editor@romania-insider.com (Photo source: frscrima.ro)