Ion Draica
Ion Draica ( born January 5, 1958 in Constanta, Constanta county ) is a former Romanian wrestler.
Career
Ion Draica began in his hometown of Constanta at the age of 11 years at the sports club Farul Constanta with the rings. Already in the youth and junior age he was one of the best Romanian wrestlers in Greco-Roman style of his respective age group. Thanks to this he had also his coach Constantin Ofiţerescu. After he became Romanian Junior Champion 1976 mi welterweight, he was sent to the Junior European Championships in Poznan, where he took a good 5th place. Already in the following year, 1977, he was - almost nineteen years old - used for the first time at an international championship in the seniors. He justified this confidence, for he was at the European Championships in Bursa sensationally European champions. He also defeated the Soviet Favorites Anatoly Nazarenko. For this reason, the Soviets presented at the World Championships the same year Vladimir Tscheboksarow middleweight against Draica. Tscheboksarow actually succeeded to defeat Draica. A victory that admittedly hung by a thread, because after both wrestlers had already received two warnings passivity, received Ion seconds before the end, the third warning, the Tscheboksarow brought the title. Ion became vice world champion.
This was followed by two extremely successful years for Ion. First, he was European Junior Champion, then he repeated his European Championship victory in Oslo last year and was finally in 1978 in Mexico City world champion at middleweight. In Oslo, he scored six wins, taking in the Hungarian Miklós Hegedus had his toughest opponents here, against whom he had been at the World Championships last year, without this having a negative impact on him, lost. He was lucky also that Tscheboksarow injured already in the 2nd round of this tournament and had to retire. In Mexico City, Ion Draica defeated but also Tscheboksarow and therefore was deservedly world champion.
At the European Championships in 1979 in Bucharest Ion won his fourth consecutive title. These ranged him this time four wins. At the World Championships the same year in San Diego, he could not defend his world title last year. He lost in the 5th round against the new Soviet Star Gennady Korban and dropped out before reaching the finals.
In the Olympic year 1980 Ion started very bad, because it came at the European Championships in Prievidza only on the 6th Place. This was due to two double - disqualification in the struggles against Draica Korban and Draica against Leif Andersson from Sweden. It was found that the defensive ring style by Ion Draica no longer was so well received at the judges. That was also the reason why ion was excreted in the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980 after the 2nd round. Again, he was disqualified by his opponents because of passivity.
Only after he is back from 1981 befleißigte a more aggressive ring style, came back the results. The outstanding students occupy World Cup 1981 in Bucharest, he won the title before the Soviet athletes Taimuraz Abchazawa to which it still should meet more often in the coming years. Very successfully wrestled ion then also at the World Championships 1981 in Oslo and the European Championships 1982 in Varna, where he each placed 3rd, and at the World Championships in 1982 in Katowice and the European Championships 1983 in Budapest, where he was runner-up respectively. A stumbling block here proved in three of these events said Taimuraz Abchazawa, the Ion defeated three times.
A successful career end then succeeded Ion Draica at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. With five victories, he became Olympic champion. In the final he defeated while the Greeks Dimitrios Thanopoulis 4-3 points.
After these games Ion ended his career as an active wrestler. He attended the Academy of Physical Education and Sport ( ANEFS ) in Bucharest and worked as a coach. Later he became president of the sports club " Farul " Constanţa and, temporarily, President of the Romanian Association Ringer. Finally, he made negative headlines in 2005 when he was embroiled in a corruption scandal after he had not received a high state award by the Romanian President in 2004.
International success
(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, European Championship EM =, GR = Greek and Roman. Styles, We = welterweight, middleweight Mi =, then to 74 kg or 92 kg body weight)