Soccer, the difficult succession
Soccer is the national sport and a huge hit with children and teenagers, who play it in every town in the country. You only have to scan the pages of the daily newspapers to understand the craze for this sport. The local tricolors make Romanians proud or sad, depending on their results. The heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, with the golden generation of Gheorghe Hagi ("the Maradona of the Carpathians"), Popescu, Petrescu and Stelea, is long gone, but it was a time of great joy for the whole of Romania. The national team took part in three World Cups in a row (1990, 1994, 1998), achieving excellent results (notably the quarter-finals in 1994). The team also qualified for the Euro in 2000, 2008 and 2016. In 2020, Bucharest's Arena Națională hosted 4 Euro 2020 matches, including the famous France-Switzerland quarter-final, which saw the Helvetians triumph after a match of anthology.
In 2024, Romania managed to qualify for the Euro, which took place in Germany.
Great tennis champions
The heyday of Romanian tennis came in the 1970s, when the national team, led by Ilie Năstase and Ion Țiriac, two players who excelled on the individual circuit, reached the Davis Cup final three times (1969, 1971 and 1972), but never won it, being beaten each time by the Americans. Ilie Năstase, number 1 in the world in 1973 and winner of the French Open (1973) and the US Open (1972), remains a star and, through his results and antics, has contributed greatly to Romania's recognition around the world. Although some good players have emerged since the early 2000s, such as Andrei Pavel, Romanian men's tennis today is struggling to renew itself. On the women's side, however, Simona Halep stands out: number 1 in the world in 2017, winner of the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, she proudly wears the Romanian colors.
Gymnastics, the country's showcase
Gymnastics is the discipline that has put Romania on the world map, and the one that has won the most medals for Romanian sport: over sixty at the Olympic Games alone. Their white outfits with tricolor (blue-yellow-red) piping are still much feared on the courts.
At the time, the Communist government opened a specialized school in Deva (in the west of the country), where the country's elite still train today. Gymnastics became a state affair, a discipline that had to put Romania on the map and whose successes allowed it to taunt its big Soviet neighbor. Nadia Comăneci was the first great champion. Her face, her performances, her medals (five in Montreal in 1976) and her incredible grades left their mark on the world.
Other Olympic disciplines
Canoeing and rowing. These disciplines have always brought many medals to Romanian sport. During the Olympic Games, rowing won over thirty medals, as did canoeing. These two disciplines rank just behind gymnastics in terms of medals won. The first great star was Ivan Patzaichin, who between 1968 and 1984 won four Olympic gold medals and multiple world titles in canoeing. More recently, the Athens Olympic Games saw the Romanians crowned champions in rowing, and Georgeta Damian-Andrunache and Viorica Susanu won gold in the same discipline at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In 2016 in Rio, the team won a bronze medal in rowing, while in 2021, in Tokyo, it won 3 medals in this discipline, including a gold.
Boxing. The first title won by a Romanian in this discipline was that of European champion, won by Lucian Popescu in 1930. The sport was subsequently promoted within the army under the Communist regime, as it was in other friendly countries such as Cuba, Bulgaria and the USSR. At the time, boxers were exclusively amateurs, and the Romanian Olympic team won more than twenty medals.
After the Revolution, boxing remained very popular and was no longer confined to the amateur scene. A number of boxers made their mark at the highest level, including Francisc Vaștag and Mihai Leu (multiple European and world champions). More recently, Leonard Doroftei (world champion in 2002 and 2003 in the super-lightweight category), Adrian Diaconu (who has won fourteen out of fifteen medals at Olympic tournaments), Lucian Bute (super-middleweight world champion from 2007 to 2012) or Christian Hammer (WBO Europe champion in 2008, 2016 and 2017, WBO International in 2015).
Athletics. The first competitions in Romania were organized in 1910. Over the decades, Romanian athletics produced some excellent athletes who sometimes dominated their discipline. The first great star was Iolanda Balaș, who dominated the women's high jump for many years. Between 1957 and 1961, she broke the world record fourteen times! She went on to win Olympic gold in 1960 in Rome and 1964 in Tokyo. Thirty years later, it was another woman who would carry the three colors of the Romanian flag high. Gabriela Szabó was one of the great middle-distance champions of 1998-2004. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Constantina Diță won gold in the marathon, becoming, at 38, the oldest athlete to win this medal. Romanian athletes, however, leave the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics without medals.
Swimming.
Oina, a typically Romanian game
The rules are fairly simple. Two teams of eleven players play against each other. One is bătaie (attacking), the other prindere (defending). A player on the attacking team throws a ball (weighing 140 g) which the opponent must try to hit with a wooden bat(bâtă) and send as far as possible, in a playing field measuring 70 m by 32 m surrounded by lines. Doesn't that remind you of baseball?Oină is first mentioned in texts in 1364, during the reign of Vlaicu Vodă. At the time, the game was played by the shepherds of Wallachia. At the 1896 Olympic Games, Romania proposed introducing the discipline. But the Olympic authorities refused... because the game was only played in Romania. Three years later, the Minister of Education, Spiru Haret, decided thatoină would be played in schools and organized national competitions. But despite this measure, the ball game met with little success and gradually disappeared. Two federations still exist, in Bucharest and Chișinău (in the Republic of Moldova).
Nature activities of choice
Hiking. Whether on foot, mountain bike or horseback, Romania offers a wide choice of nature walks for families and sports enthusiasts alike. The Carpathians as a whole lend themselves remarkably well to hiking. The landscapes and altitudes are varied. From easy to difficult, from one-hour to several-day hikes, anything is possible. Romanians walk, but the trails are not yet overrun, as is the case in the Alps or the Pyrenees.
You can stay in the refuges, which are often very simple but friendly, or pitch your tent in the surrounding area. However, it is advisable to bring your own provisions. Romanian bookshops sell good maps showing marked trails and refuges.
Last but not least, specialized Romanian agencies will be able to offer you excellent hiking tours throughout the country. All that's left to do is choose between the Bucegi mountains (accessible by cable car), the Apuseni (superb, but less frequented), the Rodnz massif (well-marked and abounding in rare plants and animals), etc.
Birdwatching. In spring and autumn, many birdwatchers flock to one of Europe's most beautiful sites, the Danube delta. During the major nesting and migration periods (March to May and August to October), millions of birds land here. Local agencies organize one- or multi-day expeditions by boat, which is the only way to get close to the birds. You'll find their offers in Bucharest or locally, in Tulcea or Crișan. In the Carpathians, a large number of species are also present to the delight of nature lovers.
Climbing. Romania boasts a large number of climbing sites. Among the country's natural highlights are the Bucegi and Piatra Craiului massifs, located near the town of Brașov, or Cheile Bicazului (Bicaz Gorge), close to the town of Piatra Neamț.
Extreme sports. These have become increasingly popular in recent years. Rafting, climbing, off-roading, paragliding and many other activities await thrill-seekers. Teams of professionals offer tours almost everywhere in the country.
Water sports. Romanians flock to the coast in summer. Jet-skiing, windsurfing, pedal-boating, water-skiing, paddle-skiing and towed buoys are all popular, at fairly affordable prices.
As for rivers, despite a fine Olympic tradition of canoeing and kayaking, it's not always easy to paddle. The best-known sites remain the Lăpuș gorges and the Vaser river, in Maramureș, or the Bistrița Aurie, in Bucovina.
Winter sports. Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are very rarely practiced, even though many regions lend themselves very well to them. But the ski resorts of the Prahova valley are beginning to attract more and more people. At Poiana Brașov (the best-known), you can usually ski from November to March. The neighboring resorts of Predeal and Bușteni are also popular. You can also ski near Sibiu at Păltiniș, Borșa in Maramureș, Semenic in western Carpathia, or Gura Humorului near Suceava.
Caving. The Apuseni and other areas of the Carpathians boast some of the most beautiful chasms and caves in Europe. But caving is not a widely practiced discipline and remains the preserve of a few specialists. Enthusiasts should contact the Romanian Caving Federation in Bucharest.
Thermalism and thalassotherapy
In Romania, rich in a thousand and one springs, thermalism has a long history. The Communist regime built large complexes around the Black Sea, in the Crișana, in the eastern Carpathians in particular. These resorts were Romania's tourist success story in the 1970s, when groups from friendly countries, France and elsewhere came here for spa treatments. Some have aged considerably and others have even been closed. But some have survived, having been renovated and adapted to European standards, especially around the Black Sea. A fine example is the Ocna Sibiului seaside resort, which offers cures at very affordable prices.
