Mihai Claudiu Covaliu (born 5 November 1977 in

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

) is 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 ...

n retired sabre fencer, Olympic champion in 2000 and world champion in 2005, and coach of the Romanian men's sabre team. He is also ex-president of the

Romanian Fencing Federation The Romanian Fencing Federation () is the governing body for the sport of fencing in Romania. Affiliated to the International Fencing Federation since 1914, it is a member of the European Fencing Confederation and of the Romanian Olympic and Spor ...

and, from 2016, president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee.

Personal life

Covaliu's first sport was football. He began fencing at age nine, after coaches from CS Tractorul Brașov presented the sport to his school. His mother encouraged him to persevere despite the harsh training methods used at the time. In 1998 he joined the BNR Bucharest, a club supported by the

National Bank of Romania The National Bank of Romania (, BNR) is the central bank of Romania and was established in April 1880. Its headquarters are located in the capital city of Bucharest. The National Bank of Romania is responsible for the issue of the Romanian le ...

, before transferring to

CS Dinamo București CS Dinamo București (full name: Clubul Sportiv Dinamo București), or Dinamo for short, is a multi-sport club from Bucharest, Romania. History The club was founded in the spring of 1948, being subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. F ...

, of which he is still a member as of 2014. Covaliu married in 2001 Irina Draghici, a member of the women's national sabre team. They have two children. He graduated in physical education from the

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

and holds a master's degree in sport management.

Career

Dolniceanu v Boyko Fencing WCH SMS-IN t145524

Covaliu underwent at CS Tractorul intensive training at the hand of several coaches and technicians, amongst which Mihai Ticușan, Gabriel Duția,

Alexandru Chiculiță Alexandru Chiculiță (born 3 February 1961) is a retired Romanian sabre fencer. He competed at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics and won a team bronze medal in 1984. After retiring from competitions he worked as a fencing coach, and currently trains t ...

, Mihai Orița, Nicolae Dinu and Emilian Nuță. In 2000 at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

he created a surprise by reaching the final, beating medal prospect

Damien Touya Damien Touya (born 23 April 1975) is a French fencer. He won medals at three Olympics. He won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as A ...

of France along the way. Covaliu then disposed of Mathieu Gourdain 15–12 to earn the first Romanian gold medal in sabre and become number one in FIE rankings. For this performance he was named Master Emeritus in sport and commander of the

Order For Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order re ...

. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, Covaliu was eliminated 15–14 in quarter-finals by

Zsolt Nemcsik Zsolt Nemcsik (born 15 August 1977 in Budapest) is a Hungarian sabre fencer. He competed at three Olympic Games. Nemcsik's two greatest accomplishments is winning the silver medal in the 2004 Olympic Games after losing to Aldo Montano in t ...

of Hungary, who eventually took the silver medal. Covaliu ended up number seven in the event. At 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 ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

the year after, he made his way comfortably to the final, which he won 15–12 against three-time Olympic champion

Stanislav Pozdnyakov Stanislav Alekseyevich Pozdnyakov ( rus, Станислав Алексеевич Поздняков, , stənʲɪˈslaf pəzʲnʲɪˈkof; born 27 September 1973) is a Russian former fencer, five-time Olympian (1992–2008), and five-time Olympic ...

of Russia. He was noted for his "enthusiasm, physical shape, virtuoso technique, simple fencing". He dedicated his medal to his son Vlad, born a day before the departure for Leipzig. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Covaliu reached easily the quarter-finals. He had a tight 15–13 win against

Aliaksandr Buikevich Aliaksandr Mikalayevich Buikevich (, ; born 19 November 1984) is a Belarusian sabre fencer, European champion in 2008 and team silver medallist at the 2011 World Championships in Catania. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, he reached the quarter-fina ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, then met Nicolas Lopez of France. Despite having always beaten Lopez before, Covaliu was defeated 15–13 after leading 11–7 in the last period of the bout. He then met another Frenchman, Julien Pillet, and won 15–11 to earn the bronze medal. After Beijing Covaliu retired to become the head coach of the Romanian sabre team. Under his training, Romania won the silver medal in the 2009 European Championships at

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

, then the gold medal at the

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

Rareș Dumitrescu Rareș Dumitrescu (; born 24 December 1983 in Brașov) is a Romanian sabre fencer, World silver medal in 2009. With the Romanian team he was European champion in 2006, World champion in 2009 and Olympic team silver medal in 2012. Personal life ...

taking the silver in the individual event. For this performance, Covaliu was made a knight in the

Order of Faithful Service The National Order of Faithful Service () is the second highest national order of Romania after the Order of the Star of Romania, and the third highest State decoration, with the Order of Michael the Brave being the first. Originally it was establ ...

. Cosmin Hănceanu and Romania earned the silver at the

2010 World Fencing Championships The 2010 World Fencing Championships were held at the Grand Palais in Paris, France 4–13 November. Medal table Men's events Women's events Participating nations A record of 110 nations competed, with many making their debuts includin ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and Romania finished second in the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Covaliu was afterwards promoted to the rank of officer of the Order of Faithful Service. In April 2013, Covaliu was elected president of the

after incumbent Ana Pascu decided not to run again. He remained the coach of the men's sabre team, who earned the silver at the

2013 World Fencing Championships The 2013 World Fencing Championships were held at Budapest, Hungary from 5–12 August. Schedule Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events Participating nations 827 fencers from 101 countries competed. * (1) * (13) * ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Tiberiu Dolniceanu Tiberiu Dolniceanu (; born 3 April 1988) is a Romanian sabre fencer, European champion in 2013 and bronze medal in the 2013 World championships. As part of Romania's sabre team, he won the team silver medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics and the ...

finishing at the third place in the individual event. The same year, Covaliu was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the

International Fencing Federation The International Fencing Federation (''Fédération Internationale d'Escrime'') commonly known by the acronym FIE, is the international Sport governing body, governing body of Olympic Games, Olympic fencing. Today, its head office is at th ...

References

Links

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Mihai Covaliu's statistics
on Nahouw.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Covaliu, Mihai 1977 births Living people Romanian male fencers Romanian sabre fencers Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for Romania Olympic medalists in fencing Sportspeople from Brașov Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Romanian fencing coaches Presidents of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee Presidents of the Romanian Fencing Federation 20th-century Romanian sportsmen