Ion Panțuru

Ion Panțuru

Panțuru (left) and Focșeneanu
Personal information
Born 11 September 1934
Comarnic, Romania
Died 17 January 2016 (aged 81)
Ploiești, Romania
Height 172 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 77 kg (170 lb)
Sport
Sport Bobsleigh
Club Bobclub Sinaia
Medal record
Representing  Romania
Olympic Games
1968 Grenoble Two-man
World Championships
1969 Lake Placid Two-man
1973 Lake Placid Two-man

Ion Panţuru (11 September 1934 – 17 January 2016) was a Romanian bobsledder. He competed in two-man and four-man events at the 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics and served as the Olympic flag bearer for Romania in 1964 and 1972.[1]

Panţuru took up bobsleigh at the age of 24, after playing as a football goalkeeper at the Divizia B-level.[2] At the 1968 Games he won a bronze medal with brakeman Nicolae Neagoe, which remains the only Romania's medal at the Winter Olympics. At the same Olympics he was also close to a bronze medal in the four-man competition, placing fourth. At the FIBT World Championships he won two medals in the two-man event, together with another brakeman Dumitru Focșeneanu, with a silver in 1969 and a bronze in 1973. At the European championships Panţuru won four-man gold medals in 1967 and 1971, placing second in four-man in 1968–69 and in two-man events in 1967 and 1969; he also won a four-man bronze medal in 1970.[3]

Panţuru lost his 1969 World Championships medal in a car on his way to the airport. The medal was found in a basement 30 years later, and returned to Panțuru. After retiring from competitions he worked as a national bobsleigh coach.[3] For his sports achievements he was made a Honorary Citizen of three Romanian towns: Comarnic, Sinaia and Busteni.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Romania. sports-reference.com
  2. 1 2 "Ion Panţuru, eroul bobului romanesc" (in Romanian). Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  3. 1 2 Ion Panțuru. sports-reference.com
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