Aurel Vernescu (23 January 1939 – 1 December 2008) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

n sprint canoeist. He competed at the 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won three medals with a silver in 1972 in the K-4 1000 m and two bronze medals in 1964 in the K-1 1000 m and K-4 1000 m events. He served as a flag bearer for Romania at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics. Vernescu also won eleven medals at the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). The World Cha ...

with four golds (K-1 500 m:

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

; K-1 4×500 m: 1963, K-2 500 m: 1966), five silvers (K-1 1000 m: 1963, K-1 4×500 m:

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, K-2 500 m: 1966, 1970; K-2 1000 m: 1966), and one bronze (K-1 4×500 m: 1966). Vernescu took up kayaking aged 13 and in total won 42 national titles. He retired from competitions in 1972 to become a kayaking coach and administrator.

References

* *
Prosport.ro 2 December 2008 article on Vernescu's death.
– accessed 18 March 2009.

External links

* * * 1939 births 2008 deaths Canoeists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Romanian male canoeists Olympic canoeists for Romania Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Bucharest {{Romania-Olympic-medalist-stub