14 SO athletes from Bucuresti, Bragadiru, Braila, Iasi, Pitesti, Timisoara participated in the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, in Idaho (USA), 7-13 February. This event involved 3000 athletes from over 100 countries and 6000 volunteers. For 6 days the athletes competed in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, figure skating, speed skating, floor hockey and snowboarding.
These are the results of our teams:
Figure skating
Marius Popa (Timisoara)- silver medal
Biro Zoltan (Timisoara)- 7th place
Coach: Simona Ionescu
Alpine skiing
Florin Barnoi (Bragadiru)- bronze medal, two 6th places
Eduard Craciun (Bragadiru)- 2 bronze medals and 4th place
Maria Oprea (Pitesti)- silver medal, 2 bronze medals
Mihaela Zanfir (Bragadiru)- silver medal, 5th place, 6th place
Coaches: Dumitru Vasilescu si Constantin Ciucurel
Cross-country skiing
Victor Gavrila (Bucharest)- gold medal, silver medal
Adrian Onila (Bucharest)- bronze medal, 5th place
Coach: Florin Pelin
Snowshoeing
Georgiana Banica (Braila)- bronze medal, 6th place
Gabriela Oprea (Pitesti)- 2 gold medals
Ionut Paunescu (Bucharest)- 4th place, 8th place
Andrei Paduraru (Iasi)- silver medal, 5th place
Ionut Nixon Sava (Bucharest)- bronze medal, 4th place
Madalina Stan (Bucharest)- bronze medal, 6th place
Coach: Vicol Suta
The games included: the Opening Ceremony, the Youth Summit, Special Olympics Sports Experience, Healthy Athletes screenings, the Closing Ceremony.
Ioana Ciobanu, International Global Messenger, representing Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia was part of the games. She took part in receptions, ceremonies and other official events, along with the other 11 Global Messengers and sports celebrities. The Romanian delegation had 25 athletes, coaches and officials.
