Victor Ciobanu (born 7 October 1992) is a Moldovan Greco-Roman wrestler. He won the gold medal in the 60 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway.[1][2] He is the first wrestler representing Moldova to win a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the World Wrestling Championships.[1]

Victor Ciobanu
Personal information
Born (1992-10-07) October 7, 1992 (age 32)
Florești, Moldova
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
CountryMoldova
SportAmateur wrestling
Weight class
  • 60 kg
  • 63 kg
EventGreco-Roman
Medal record
Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Representing  Moldova
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Oslo 60 kg
Silver medal – second place 2018 Budapest 60 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Bucharest 60 kg
Silver medal – second place 2014 Vantaa 59 kg
Silver medal – second place 2023 Zagreb 60 kg
Silver medal – second place 2024 Bucharest 60 kg
European Games
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Minsk 60 kg
Grand Prix
Silver medal – second place 2022 Rome 63 kg
Silver medal – second place 2024 Budapest 63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Budapest 63 kg
European U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Walbrzych 59 kg
Summer Universiade
Silver medal – second place 2013 Kazan 55 kg
European Juniors Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Zagreb 55 kg

In 2018, Ciobanu won the silver medal in the same event at the World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.[3] He also won the gold medal in his event at the 2019 European Wrestling Championships in Bucharest, Romania. In 2021, Ciobanu represented Moldova at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.[4][5]

Career

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Ciobanu won one of the bronze medals in the 55 kg event at the 2012 European Juniors Wrestling Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia. In 2013, he lost his bronze medal match in the 55 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia. In that same year, Ciobanu also represented Moldova at the Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia and he won the silver medal in the 55 kg event.[6] A few months later, he was eliminated in his second match in the 55 kg event at the 2013 World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.[7]

Ciobanu won the silver medal in the 59 kg event at the 2014 European Wrestling Championships held in Vantaa, Finland. He also competed at World Wrestling Championships in 2015 and 2017 but he did not win a medal on these occasions. In 2015, Ciobanu won the gold medal in his event at the 2015 European U23 Wrestling Championships held in Walbrzych, Poland. A few months later, he lost his bronze medal match in the 59 kg event at the 2015 European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan.[8] In 2016, Ciobanu competed at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia hoping to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He won his first match but then lost his next match against Stig-André Berge of Norway. Berge went on to win one of the bronze medals in the 59 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[9] At the 2018 World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, Ciobanu won the silver medal in the 60 kg event.[3]

At the 2019 European Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest, Romania, Ciobanu won the gold medal in the 60 kg event.[10][11] In 2019, he also represented Moldova at the European Games in Minsk, Belarus and he won one of the bronze medals in the 60 kg event.[12][13]

In 2020, Ciobanu competed in the 63 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships held in Rome, Italy where he was eliminated in his first match by Erik Torba of Hungary.[14] Torba went on to win one of the bronze medals.[14] In the same year, Ciobanu competed in the men's 60 kg event at the Individual Wrestling World Cup held in Belgrade, Serbia.[15]

In January 2021, Ciobanu won the gold medal in the 63 kg event at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open held in Zagreb, Croatia.[16] In March 2021, he competed at the European Qualification Tournament in Budapest, Hungary hoping to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.[17] He did not qualify at this tournament but, in May 2021, he was able to qualify for the Olympics at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Sofia, Bulgaria.[5][18] Ciobanu lost his bronze medal match in the 60 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[19][20] He won his first two matches, against Kerem Kamal of Turkey and Zholaman Sharshenbekov of Kyrgyzstan, without conceding a single point. He then lost 0 – 11 against Luis Orta of Cuba and in his bronze medal match he lost against Sergey Emelin of the ROC.[20]

Two months after the Olympics, Ciobanu won the gold medal in his event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway.[2] In the final, he defeated Zholaman Sharshenbekov of Kyrgyzstan.[2]

In 2022, Ciobanu won the silver medal in his event at the Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey.[21] He also competed in the 63 kg event at the 2022 European Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary where he was eliminated in his second match.[22] A few months later, Ciobanu won the silver medal in his event at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022 held in Rome, Italy.[23]

Ciobanu won the silver medal in the 60 kg event at the 2023 European Wrestling Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia. He also won the silver medal in the 60 kg event at the 2024 European Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest, Romania.[24] Ciobanu competed at the 2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan and he earned a quota place for Moldova for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[25]

Ciobanu competed in the 60 kg event at the Olympics.[26] He was eliminated in his first match by Ri Se-ung of North Korea.[26] Ri Se-ung went on to win one of the bronze medals in the event.[26]

Achievements

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Year Tournament Location Result Event
2014 European Championships Vantaa, Finland 2nd Greco-Roman 59 kg
2018 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd Greco-Roman 60 kg
2019 European Championships Bucharest, Romania 1st Greco-Roman 60 kg
European Games Minsk, Belarus 3rd Greco-Roman 60 kg
2021 World Championships Oslo, Norway 1st Greco-Roman 60 kg
2023 European Championships Zagreb, Croatia 2nd Greco-Roman 60 kg
2024 European Championships Bucharest, Romania 2nd Greco-Roman 60 kg

References

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  1. ^ a b Burke, Patrick (9 October 2021). "Olympic medallist Saravi one of two Iranian winners on penultimate day at UWW World Championships in Oslo". InsideTheGames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "2021 World Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). UWW.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b "2018 World Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). unitedworldwrestling.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  4. ^ Shefferd, Neil (8 May 2021). "Armenia and Romania book multiple Tokyo 2020 places at UWW World Olympic Games qualifier". InsideTheGames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b "2021 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament Results Book" (PDF). UWW.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Wrestling Results Book" (PDF). 2013 Summer Universiade. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  7. ^ "2013 World Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). fila-official.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  8. ^ Etchells, Daniel (13 June 2015). "Russia bag gold medal hat-trick on opening day of Baku 2015 Greco-Roman wrestling action". InsideTheGames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  9. ^ Etchells, Daniel (14 August 2016). "Russia's Vlasov wins Rio 2016 Olympic gold in Greco-Roman wrestling". InsideTheGames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  10. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (14 April 2019). "Russia round off European Wrestling Championships in Bucharest with two more Greco-Roman golds". InsideTheGames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  11. ^ "2019 European Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). unitedworldwrestling.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  12. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (29 June 2019). "Langride and Ellis lift European Games badminton men's doubles title as British players enjoy successful day". InsideTheGames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  13. ^ "2019 European Games Wrestling Results" (PDF). unitedworldwrestling.org. United World Wrestling. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  14. ^ a b "2020 European Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). unitedworldwrestling.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  15. ^ "2020 Individual Wrestling World Cup Results Book" (PDF). unitedworldwrestling.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  16. ^ "2021 Grand Prix Zagreb Open Results Book" (PDF). UWW.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  17. ^ "2021 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament Results Book" (PDF). UWW.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  18. ^ Iveson, Ali (9 May 2021). "World Olympic wrestling qualifier ends with six final walkovers". InsideTheGames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  19. ^ Morgan, Liam (2 August 2021). "López etches name into history books by clinching fourth Olympic wrestling title at Tokyo 2020". InsideTheGames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Wrestling Results Book" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  21. ^ "2022 Yasar Dogu, Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Tournament Results Book" (PDF). UWW.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  22. ^ "2022 European Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). UWW.org. United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  23. ^ "Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022 Results Book" (PDF). UWW.org. United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  24. ^ "2024 European Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  25. ^ "2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  26. ^ a b c "Wrestling Results Book" (PDF). 2024 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
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