Ion Țăranu
Ion Taranu (born 14 March 1938, in Turnu Măgurele) is a Romanian Greco-Roman wrestler. He won the bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.[1]
Career/development
Ion Taranu began wrestling as a young person and developed into an outstanding Greco-Roman wrestler. He won the Romanian championship in the middleweight division for the first time in 1959. In 1960 he qualified for the Rome Olympics. His previous international experience consisted only of two bouts against Sweden in Bucharest, in both of which he fought Hans Antonsson and the match ended with no decision.
In Rome he surprised the wrestling world with outstanding achievements in the middleweight division, among others defeating the Turkish world champion, Kazim Ayvaz. His match against the young Lothar Metz of Rostock, representing the combined Germany, ended undecided. Taranu was forced to accept one defeat, at the hands of the experienced Dimitar Dobrev of Bulgaria. In the final accounting he was able to achieve 3rd and thus win the Bronze medal.[2][3][4][5]
Taranu also performed very well at the 1961 World Championships in Yokohama. There he again fought to an undecided verdict against Lothar Metz, but was defeated by Vassili Tsenin of the Soviet Union and had to content himself with 4th place.[6][7] He also did not win a medal at the 1962 World Championships, in Toledo, Ohio, USA, or the 1963 World Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden, finishing 5th.[6][7] However, in both world championships he performed respectably and was beaten by Anatoly Kolesov of the USSR.
Taranu was extremely well prepared for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He fought in the welterweight class and was undefeated in his four matches. However, the undecided matches against Matti Laakso of Finland and Anatoly Kolesov gave him 6 penalty points to his 2 victory points, and he was eliminated, with 5th place.[6][8][9]
Taranu was very successful at the 1967 European Championships in Minsk, where he placed 2nd in the welterweight class. The rules then in force allowed this with a single victory and three undecided matches. At the World Championships the same year, in Bucharest, he achieved 3 victories and one undecided. However, a defeat at the hands of Viktor Igumenov of the USSR forced him to withdraw and he ended in 6th place.[6][7]
Taranu took part in the Olympics for the third and final time in 1968 Mexico City in. As he had four years previously, he took 5th place, with defeats of, among others, Peter Nettekoven of Dortmund and an undecided match against Franz Berger of Austria and defeats at the hands of Viktor Igumenov and the Frenchman Daniel Robin.[6][10]
Taranu retired from active participation in wrestling after the 1968 Olympics. He studied at the National Academy of Physical Education and Sport in Bucharest, where he earned a doctorate in 1971. He was subsequently a dozent and later a professor there. He was also the wrestling coach for the clubs Progresul Bucharest and Dinamo Bucharest.
International career
All Greco-Roman style. Welterweight: until 1961 up to 73 kg body weight, from 1962 up to 78 kg; middleweight, until 1961 up to 79 kg body weight, from 1962 up to 87 kg body weight.
| Year | Event | Weight class | Finish | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Rome Olympics | Middleweight | Bronze medal | Defeated: Noboru Aomi, Japan, Oddvar Barlie, Norway, Kazim Ayvaz, Turkey; undecided: Boleslav Dubicki, Poland, Lothar Metz, Germany; defeated by: Dimitar Dobrev, Bulgaria[2][3][4][5] | |
| 1961 | World Championships, Yokohama | Middleweight | 4th place | Defeated: Sadao Kazama, Japan; undecided: Boleslav Dubicki, Lothar Metz; defeated by Vassili Tsenin, USSR[6][7] | |
| 1962 | Ivan Poddubny Tournament, Moscow | Welterweight | 2nd place | Below Anatoly Kolesov, USSR; above Marijan Malovic, Yugoslavia | |
| 1962 | World Championships, Toledo, Ohio | Welterweight | 7th place | Defeated: Robert Zingg, Switzerland; defeated by: Anatoly Kolesov, Rudy Williams, USA | |
| 1963 | World Championships, Helsingborg | Welterweight | 5th place | Defeated: Albert Michiels, Belgium, René Schiermeyer, France, Harald Barlie, Norway, Rudolf Vesper, GDR; defeated by: Anatoly Kolesov, Dimitar Dobrev[7] | |
| 1964 | Tokyo Olympics | Welterweight | 5th place | Defeated: Kiril Petkov, Bulgaria, Asgar Zoughian, Iran; undecided: Anatoly Kolesov, Matti Laakso, Finland[6][8][9] | |
| 1966 | Balkan Games, Ljubljana | Welterweight | 1st place | Above Milan Nenadić, Yugoslavia, Dimitrios Savvas, Greece | |
| 1966 | European Championships, Essen | Middleweight | 9th place | Defeated: Albertus Rosbag, the Netherlands, Vassilios Papoulios, Greece; defeated by: László Sillai, Hungary | |
| 1966 | World Championships, Toledo, Ohio | Welterweight | 6th place | Defeated: Daniel Vernik, Argentina; undecided: Branislav Simić, Yugoslavia, Jean-Marie Chardonnes, Switzerland; defeated by: Valentin Olenik, USSR[6][7] | |
| 1967 | European Championships, Minsk | Welterweight | 2nd place | Defeated: Jimmy Martinetti, Switzerland; undecided: Franz Berger, Austria, Sirri Acar, Turkey, Georgi Vershinin, USSR[6][7] | |
| 1967 | World Championships, Bucharest | Welterweight | 6th place | Defeated: Marian Czardybon, Poland, Johann Karigl, Austria, Antal Rizmayer, Hungary; undecided: Bobe Dorosiev, Bulgaria; defeated by: Viktor Igumenov, USSR | |
| 1968 | Tournament in Klippan, Sweden | Welterweight | 3rd place | Below Harald Barlie, Adam Ostrowski, Poland | |
| 1968 | European Championships in Västerås | Welterweight | 15th place | Undecided: Franz Berger; defeated by: Milan Nenadić, Jan Karström, Sweden | |
| 1968 | Mexico City Olympics | Welterweight | 5th place | Defeated: Brian Heffel, Canada, Peter Nettekoven, West Germany; undecided: Franz Berger; defeated by: Viktor Igumenov, Daniel Robin, France[6][10] |
References
- ↑ Report: games of the Olympiad, Volume 17. United States Olympic Committee. 1961. p. 178. OCLC 23876652.
- 1 2 "Ion Taranu". DatabseOlympics.com. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- 1 2 "Men's Middleweight (67.5 – 75 kg) Greco-Roman, Complete list of Olympic medalists for the Men's middleweight (67.5 kg – 75 kg) Greco-Roman". About.com, Olympics. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- 1 2 "The XVII Olympiad, Rome 1960, Volume One". Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- 1 2 "The XVII Olympiad, Rome 1960, Volume Two". Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Ion Ţăranu". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Taranu, Ion". International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- 1 2 "The Games of the XVIII Olympiad, Tokyo, 1964, Volume One". Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- 1 2 "The Games of the XVIII Olympiad, Tokyo, 1964, Volume Two". Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- 1 2 "Mexico 68 (official report), Volume Three, Part 2" (PDF). pp. 313–14. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
Sources
- Athletik magazine, 1960–68
- FILA Documentation of International Wrestling Championships, 1968, pp. O-61, W.42, W-47, W-55, O-75, E-50, W-72, E-53, W-75, E-60, O-94.
- University of Leipzig Institute of Applied Training Science International Wrestling Database.
- Eduard Hemar, Zagreb.