Maria Vicol (née Taitiș, 17 October 1935 – 13 March 2015) 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 ...

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

fencer, Olympic bronze medalist in 1960 and an Olympic team bronze medalist in 1968.

Career

Vicol took up fencing at Progresul Bucharest, where she was trained by Angelo Pellegrini. In April 1956 she won a silver medal at the Junior World Championships in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, bringing Romania its first fencing medal in a major competition. This was followed by a bronze medal in the individual foil at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

."1960 Summer Olympics – Rome, Italy – Fencing"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 27 September 2008) She was part of the same generation as Olga Szabo, Ana Pascu, Ecaterina Stahl, Ileana Jenei, and

Suzana Ardeleanu Suzana Ardeleanu ( Suzana Tași; born 8 March 1946) is a Romanian fencer. She competed in the women's individual and team foil events at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Career Ardeleanu learnt fencing at a local club under coach Alexandru Csipler. S ...

, with whom she won several team medals in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

: bronze at the 1961 World Fencing Championships in Turin, silver at the 1965 World Fencing Championships in Paris and the 1970 World Fencing Championships in Ankara and gold at the 1969 World Fencing Championships in Havana. She also earned a team bronze medal at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Vicol began teaching fencing in 1968 at CS Cutezătorii. She then moved to CS Bucharest, where she discovered the future Olympic champion Laura Badea-Cârlescu. She was also an international referee. Vicol died on 13 March 2015, aged 79. She was married to the rugby player Florin Vicol.Maria Vicol

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vicol, Maria 1935 births 2015 deaths Romanian female fencers Olympic fencers for Romania Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in fencing Fencers from Bucharest Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics 20th-century Romanian sportswomen