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LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT APPRECIATION
MIHAI COVALIU (OLYMPIC CHAMPION), FOR MIHAI ORITA
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Romania: November 2, 2005
I am writing to you on behalf of Mr. Mihai Daniel Orita.
I was very fortunate to have had Mr. Orita as my head coach from 1991 to 2000.
Mr. Orita's experience, and positive training approach, had a tremendous impact on my fencing career. His experience, at the international level, has been invaluable to me in preparing me for the World Cup competitions, World Championship and Olympic Games.
He developed a highly disciplined training program, during his own successful career, and it was through his exemplary training regime that I was able to achieve my international exceptional results.
During the over nine years, he has served as my head coach, my professional achievements included:
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Gold Medal, individual saber, 2000 Olympics, Sydney
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Bronze Medal, individual saber, 2002 World Championship, Lisbon
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Bronze Medal, individual saber, 2002 European Championship, Moscow
My proudest accomplishment came in 2000, when I was awarded the 2000 Olympics Gold Medal in Sydney/Australia, for individual saber.
It is really a grueling achievement, requiring consistent performance of the highest level, for the most celebrated and respected tournament in the whole world.
I am very proud of this accomplishment, and I directly attribute it to the disciplined training of Mr. Mihai Orita, for this success.
I genuinely believe that Mr. Mihai Orita, Head Coach Emeritus, would be an invaluable asset to any Feancing Team in the world, striving to succeed at the international level. I recommend him whole-heartedly.
Sincerely,
Mihai Covaliu
Mihai Covaliu (ROM) wins men’s sabre WC gold - 2005
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Mihai Covaliu (ROM) wins men’s sabre WC gold/Title holder Aldo Montano defeated by four-time World Champion Stanislaw Podzniakow in quarter-finals.Mihai Covaliu (ROM) is the new men´s sabre world champion. He defeated Stanislaw Podzniakov 15:12 in the finals of the 2005 fencing World Championship in Leipzig. „It is really great. I dedicate this victory to my son,“ said Covaliu. |
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Oleg Shturbabin (UKR) and Alexey Yakimenko (RUS) won bronce. Title holder Aldo Montano (ITA) was defeated 10:15 by the four-time Russian World Champion (1996, 1997, 2001, 2002) Stanislaw Podzniakov already in the quarter finals. The current junior world champion Nicolas Limbach (GER) also dropped out in the quarter finals. With a tight score of 14:15, he lost against Alexey Yakimenko (RUS), who is overall winner in the World Cup and the current no. 1 in the fencing world ranking list. Also today, on the third day of the 2005 fencing World Championships in the Leipzig Arena, the men´s foil and women´s sabre preliminaries took place. Tomorrow, among the men title holder Brice Guyart (FRA) and Erwan Le Pechoux, no. 1 on the world ranking list, will be fencing. On the same day, female Olympic world champion Mariel Zagunis (USA), 2001 world champion Anne-Lise Touya (USA) and Sada Jacobson (USA), no. 1 on the world rankings, will be on the piste.
Source: Fencing2005-Olaf Wolf/DFB
MIHAI COVALIU
Reigning sabre champion faces tough challenge
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The new-look transparent mask may be the first thing that grabs the attention when the Olympic men's sabre tournament opens today but it is unlikely to be the last.One look at the line-up is enough to suggest that it will be one of the most open and exciting competitions for years. |
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Champion Mihai Covaliu, who beat Frenchman Mathieu Gourdain 15-12 in the final in Sydney four years ago, starts his defence as fourth seed.
Having been given a bye in the first round, the Romanian's first match is likely to be against Atlanta bronze medallist and 1999 world champion Damian Touya, also of France.
A slow start and the defending Olympic champion could be on his way home a lot earlier than expected.
Touya is the younger of two brothers competing in the sabre.
If he beats Covaliu then Damian, 29, will be on track for a possible semi-final against his brother Gael, who 18 months his senior.
In a remarkable family feat, their 23-year-old sister Anne-Lise will take part in the inaugural women's sabre.
Gael Touya's opening bout will be against the American Keeth Smart, ranked 22nd in the world but winner of two World Cup events in 2003 when he briefly took over the number one slot.
Luigi Tarantino, seeded eight, is also a contender. "Right now I feel good about things," said the Italian.
"It's not about what people have done in the past, it's what they do when they are on the piste."
The main threats to Covaliu, however, are the three men ranked above him, Russians Serguei Cherikov and Stanislav Pozdiniakov and the number one seed and reigning world champion Vladimir Lukashenko of the Ukraine.
Pozdiniakov, 30, has enjoyed a superb career and is chasing his fifth gold medal, although only one of existing four is for the individual event.
Lukashenko remains the irresistible force, though, after winning two World Cup tournaments this year and the world championships in Havana in October.
Reigning sabre champion faces tough challenge
August 14, 2004
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The new-look transparent mask may be the first thing that grabs the attention when the Olympic men's sabre tournament opens today but it is unlikely to be the last.One look at the line-up is enough to suggest that it will be one of the most open and exciting competitions for years.Champion Mihai Covaliu, who beat Frenchman Mathieu Gourdain 15-12 in the final in Sydney four years ago, starts his defence as fourth seed. |
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Having been given a bye in the first round, the Romanian's first match is likely to be against Atlanta bronze medallist and 1999 world champion Damian Touya, also of France."
Read more at Reigning sabre champion faces tough challenge.
MIHAI COVALIU
2003 World Championships, Final Bouts. Watch Foil, Epee and Sabre Final bouts. 6 Final bouts for Men and Women
By all accounts, the 2003 World Championships was a rough affair. Fenced in Havana, organizers and fencers suffered with faulty air conditioning, intermittent phone lines, and a single antique photo-copier. But we're a company with a man, a plan, and a video-cam: Fencing Footage was there, and we found enough electricity to power our camera.
This chock-full DVD contains all six individual final bouts. This makes it the perfect choice for clubs with an interest in more than one weapon, or individuals looking for an "executive overview" of fencing circa 2003.
The footage is shot with a hand-cam, with an excellent elevated view of the strip from only a few tiers away. The lights, the names on the scoreboard, the footwork, and the screams all come through clearly. The view is steadier than it should be, considering this is a hand-held; on the rare occasions when the camera shakes you realize how good the view is — almost professional at times. At the bottom of the screen, you can sometimes see the horde of other cameras, none of them with as commanding a view of the action.
Men's Sabre Individual Final
Vladimir Lukashenko of the Ukraine versus Mihai Covaliu of Romania.
The action begins quickly in men's sabre, with Covaliu racking up two points with direct attacks that exploit his long reach. He is a tall man, and can reach Lukashenko's en garde line with a double-advance lunge. Lukashenko rallies quickly, however. He wipes his feet on the side of the strip, gets en garde, and finds a parry. Then Lukashenko launches forward again, hitting with a direct attack and second-guessing Covaliu who wanted a parry riposte of his own. The tactics unfold quite perfectly, both fencers seeming to know exactly what is called for with the next touch, and the actions sometimes appear pre-ordained from the time the director calls "Fence!"
The bout's surprises come with distance — when Covaliu suddenly pulls distance to cause Lukashenko to miss, or when Lukashenko finds an effective parry mere inches from his body. The parries are what causes Covaliu's problems — he distracts himself by questioning the director a few times — and then returns to his devastating attacks.
The tempo is sometimes cut so fine that the director seems like the third competitor. Touches wouldn't happen without the consistency of his calls, and both fencers, utterly serious and focused, use the director's reliability to generate some amazing actions. Source: Fencing Footage
Gymnastic Marian Dragulescu and fencer Mihai Covaliu, joint Sortsmen of the Year 2005
Marian Dragulescu and Mihai Covaliu (photo by Rompres Agency)
Gymnast Marian Dragulescu and fencer Mihai Covaliu were jointly honoured by the Romanian Sporting Press at a Sorts Gala hosted by the National Sports Agency and the Romanian Olympic Sports Committee. The award, with a history harking back to 1933, was presented at the gathering which included many Olympic, world and European champions, Romanian sporting personalities and journalists from all sectors of the media. Marian Dragulescu is the world champion vaulter and holds the European floor title. Fencer Mihai Covaliu possesses the world championship title and was part of the successful team that took out Bronze at the European Championships. Both Dragulescu and Covaliu are registered with Dinamo Bucarest. Romania's handball team, world champion runners-up in St Petersburg, won the women's section.
Team winners in the Olympic category were the women's rowing 8+1 – world champion runners-up. They were followed by the men's kayak K2 1000m team of Ionut Anghel and Marian Sevici, world champion runners-up; the European champion water polo men's team, who came 6th at the world championships in Montreal; and men's basketball team CSU Asesoft Ploiesti, winners of the FIBA Europe Cup.
“First lady” of the Romanian track and field, Ms Iolanda Balas, Olympic champion and former world champion, editor of the Athletic Revue (Photo: Rompres Agency)
Non-Olympic team laureates were the world champion women's bowling team; women's semi-marathon running team who were runners-up at the worlds; world champions and gold winners men's rowing C4 500m; the aerobic gymnastics team who took away 4 gold and 2 bronze medals at the European Championships.
The individual Olympic winners were loan Suciu (gymnastics - silver in pommel horse, world championships), Sebastian Dogariu (weightlifting - silver and bronze at the world and European championships), Marian Oprea (athletics - bronze in triple jump at world championships), Alin Jivan (bronze in vault, world championship), Eusebiu Diaconu (World bronze in wrestling), Constantin Dita-Tomescu (running - team gold in semi-marathon at world championships and world bronze in marathon, singles), Catalina Ponor (world bronze medal and European bronze in beam), Alina Dumitru (judo - European bronze medal), Marioara Munteanu (European gold in weightlifting), Mihaela Steff-Merutiu (European team gold, European silver doubles and European silver in single table tennis), Elena Iagar (running - European gold 1500m)
Non-Olympic single events awards were presented to Mihaela Cijevschi (world champion boxing) and Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu (European chess champion). Awards for "Best Sports Structure" were presented to the Romanian Gymnastics Association for the most numerous number of world medals in Olympic sports and to the Romanian Fencing and Handball Associations. Dinamo SC was named Romania's club of the year for the eighth year in succession, followed by Steaua SC, and Orsova - based "Traian Lalescu" General Education High School won the title of under-16 club of year 2005.
"Best Coaches" awards were presented to Constantin Tomescu (athletics), Dan Grecu (gymnastics), Gheorghe Tadici and Dumitru Musi (handball), Daniel Stoian (kayak), Vlad Hagiu (water polo) and Emilian Nuta (fencing).
The Romanian Olympic Sports Committee gave the Fair Play
Award to Dinamo Bucharest football team for their solidarity
gesture with player Mariko Daouda. Florentin Petre, Dinamo's
skipper, was presented with the award. It was a double
celebration for the skipper who was regailed with “Happy Birthday”
by the show's host Horia Brenciu. Petre celebrated his 30 th birthday.
Iolanda Balas-Soter, a multiple Olympic and European champion, winner of 14 world champion titles, former President of the Romanian Athletics Association, and now editor of the Athletic Revue, long standing member of our Association, was handed a lifetime achievement award.
Adrian Luca
Sursa: Nine O'Clock Bucharest
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