Iosif Sârbu (25 September 1925 – c. 6 September 1964) was a

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

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

and

’s first ever

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champion. He competed in six 50 m rifle events in total at the 1952, 1956, and 1960 Olympics and won a gold medal in the 50 m rifle prone in 1952, setting a world record. He served as the flag bearer for Romania at the 1956 Olympics.

Sporting career

He was born in

Șibot Șibot (; or ''Zsibotalkenyér'') is a commune located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Băcăinți (''Bocksdorf'', ''Bokajalfalu''), Balomiru de Câmp (''Ballendorf'', ''Balomir''), Sărăcsău (''Szaraksz ...

Alba County Alba County () is a county (județ) of Romania located in the historic region of Transylvania. Its capital is Alba Iulia, a city with a population of 63,536. Name "Alba", meaning "white" in Latin and Romanian, is derived from the name of the ...

. His family moved to the Romanian capital of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

when Iosif was 7 years old. His father, Dănilă Sârbu, soon got a job at the Tunari Sports Shooting Range, whose manager he became just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This provided an opportunity for young Iosif to take up sports shooting in 1937, at the age of 12. He won his first national level competition (Bucharest Cup) in 1939.Iosif Sârbu

Romanian Olympic Committee The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (, COSR) is responsible for Romania's participation in the Olympic Games. History The Romanian Olympic Committee () was formed in 1914 in Bucharest. In 2004 it changed its name to ''Romanian Olympic an ...

In the first national championship after the war (1946) he became Romanian champion in the free rifle, standing event, scoring 358 points. His first international victory came in the Balkan championships in

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(1948) where he won the free rifle, prone event. At the 1952 Olympics he won the small-bore rifle 50 metres, prone event, setting a new world record at 400 points. This means he scored a maximum 10 points at every shot (there were 40 shots in total). The same was achieved by Soviet Boris Andreyev. However, according to the regulations in force at the time, Sârbu was awarded the gold medal, on grounds of his hitting the very center of the target 33 times, compared to Andreyev’s 28. The very center is in fact a small dot inside the 10-point area. Sârbu thus became Romania’s first

champion in history, regardless of discipline. Despite his declining eyesight, Iosif Sârbu took part in another two

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, finishing 5th in Melbourne, 1956 and 12th in Rome, 1960. On 6 September 1964 he was found dead in his Bucharest home. The circumstances of his death were never officially explained or confirmed, but it is widely believed that he committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

, after a medical verdict not only denied him participation in the 1964 Olympic games in

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, but stated he would never be able to compete again, because of his eye condition. He was buried in Bucharest's

Ghencea Cemetery Ghencea Cemetery is located in Ghencea neighbourhood of Bucharest, on Ghencea Boulevard, in Sector 6. The cemetery has two sections, civilian and military. Notable interments * Ioan Ioniță (1924–1987), Communist general and politician who ...

References

External links

Helsinki 1952 shooting Olympic medalists on the IOC website

a short biography of Iosif Sârbu (in Romanian)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sirbu, Iosif 1925 births 1964 suicides 1964 deaths Suicides in Romania Romanian male sport shooters ISSF rifle shooters Olympic shooters for Romania Olympic gold medalists for Romania Shooters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1960 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Alba County Olympic medalists in shooting Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Burials at Ghencea Cemetery 20th-century Romanian sportsmen