Cristian Gațu

Cristian Gațu (born 20 August 1945) is a retired Romanian handball player. He earned 212 caps with the national team, winning the world title in 1970 and 1974 and medalling at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. After retiring from competitions he became a coach and sports official, appointed as Secretary of State for Youth and Sports in 1991–1993 and President of the Romanian Handball Federation in 1997–2014.[2][3]

Cristian Gațu
Gațu in 1992
Personal information
Born20 August 1945 (1945-08-20) (age 78)
Bucharest, Romania[1]
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
SportHandball
ClubRapid București (1963–64)
Știința București (1964–68)
Steaua Bucharest (1968–78)[2]
Polisportiva Follonica (1981–83)
Medal record
Representing  Romania
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1976 Montreal Team
Bronze medal – third place 1972 Munich Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place1970 France Team
Gold medal – first place1974 East Germany Team
Bronze medal – third place1967 Sweden Team

Biography

Gațu, an ethnic Aromanian,[4][5] was born to renowned sports journalist Petre Gațu. In his early years he studied civil engineering in Bucharest and competed nationally in chess, association football and handball, eventually choosing handball for his career. With Steaua București, he won ten national titles and the 1977 European Cup. He retired after spending two seasons in Italy with Tuscany Follonica in the 1980s, both as a player and a coach. In 1983, he returned to Romania, where he first worked as an instructor of water sports, but later moved from coaching to administration. Between 1984 and 1991 he was vice president of Steaua București, and in 1991–1993 served as Secretary of State for Youth and Sports. In 1993–1997, he headed a military physical education faculty, in 1997–1998 was appointed as president of Steaua București, and in 1996–2002 served as vice president of the Romanian Olympic Committee. In parallel he headed the Romanian Handball Federation between 1997 and 2014. On 14 September 2007, he was promoted to the military rank of brigadier general.[2][3]

Honours

References
  1. Cristian Gațu. sports-reference.com
  2. Cristian Gațu. Romanian Olympic Committee
  3. DOCUMENTAR: Legendarul handbalist Cristian Gațu împlinește 70 de ani. agerpres.ro (20 August 2015)
  4. "Sportivii care i-au reprezentat cu cinste pe aromâni au fost răplătiți" (in Romanian). Litoral TV. 7 April 2014.
  5. Grigore, George V. (14 April 2018). "Personalități din ramura aromână a românimii noastre milenare". Ziarul Națiunea (in Romanian).
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