Elisabeta Lipă

Elisabeta Lipă (Romanian pronunciation: [elisaˈbeta ˈlipə]; née Oleniuc on 26 October 1964) is a retired rower and government official from Romania. She is the most decorated rower in the history of the Olympics, winning five gold, two silver and one bronze medals.[1] She holds the record amongst rowers for the most years between gold medals, at 20 years.

Elisabeta Lipă
Lipă in 1992
Personal information
Birth nameElisabeta Oleniuc
Born26 October 1964 (1964-10-26) (age 55)
Siret, Suceava County, Romania[1][2]
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight80 kg (176 lb)
Minister of Youth and Sport
Assumed office
17 November 2015
PresidentKlaus Iohannis
Prime MinisterDacian Cioloș
Preceded byGabriela Szabo
Sport
SportRowing
ClubCS Dinamo București[1]
Medal record
Representing  Romania
Olympic Games
1984 Los Angeles Double sculls
1992 Barcelona Single sculls
1996 Atlanta Eight
2000 Sydney Eight
2004 Athens Eight
1988 Seoul Double sculls
1992 Barcelona Double sculls
1988 Seoul Quadruple sculls
World Rowing Championships
1989 Bled Single scull
1985 Hazewinkel Double sculls
1986 Nottingham Double sculls
1987 Copenhagen Double sculls
1989 Bled Double sculls
1991 Vienna Single sculls
1991 Vienna Double sculls
1994 Indianapolis Coxless pairs
2003 Milan Eights
1982 Lucerne Quadruple sculls
1983 Duisburg Double sculls
1984 Montreal Eights
1994 Indianapolis Eights

Since 2004, Lipă has served in various government positions including Minister of Youth and Sport in the current cabinet under Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș. Since 2009, she has also served as the President of the Romanian Rowing Federation and the Dinamo București Sports Club.[3]

Career
Lipă on a 2004 Romanian stamp

Lipă debuted at the age of 19 at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, where she won her first gold medal in the double sculls event. She won her most recent gold medal in the eight at the Athens Summer Olympics in 2004. She is the only person to win a gold medal in the two premiere rowing events: the single scull and the eight. She is also one of very few women to win a gold medal in both a sculling (two oars per person) and a sweep (one oar per person) event. (Canada's Kathleen Heddle and Marnie McBean accomplished the same, sculling and sweep gold medals, in 1992 and 1996.)

In 2004, she became the first female rower to compete at six Olympics. This was first done by Czech rower Jiří Pták (cox) in 1992 and equalled in 2008 by Canadian Lesley Thompson (cox), Estonian Jüri Jaanson, and Australian James Tomkins.

Later life

In 2008 she was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal at the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne[4] and became an honorary citizen of her native town Siret. From November 2015 to January 2017, she served as the Romanian Minister of Youth and Sport in the Cioloș Cabinet.[2]

See also

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Elisabeta Oleniuc-Lipă". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  2. Elisabeta Lipă. Romanian Olympic Committee
  3. "Elisabeta Lipa – proposed Minister of Youth and Sports (biography)". Romanian National News Agency. 15 November 2015. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  4. "Romanian rowing legend Elisabeta Lipa to receive highest distinction in rowing". WorldRowing.com. FISA. 26 May 2008. Archived from the original on 28 May 2008.
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