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Iulia Olteanu

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Iulia Olteanu
Medal record
Women'sathletics
RepresentingRomania
World Half Marathon Championships
Silver medal – second place 1994 Oslo Half marathon
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1993 Buffalo 10,000 m
Gold medal – first place 1995 Fukuoka 10,000 m

Iulia Olteanu(née Negură; born 26 January 1967) is aRomanianformerlong-distance runnerwho competed incross country,trackandroad runningevents.

She made her breakthrough on the international scene with consecutive wins at theIAAF World Women's Road Race Championshipsin 1990 and 1991. She helped Romania to a number of team medals at theIAAF World Half Marathon ChampionshipsandIAAF World Cross Country Championships,and also ran in the10,000 metresat two editions of theIAAF World Championships in Athleticsas well as the1996 Summer Olympics.

Olteanu was thesilver medallistat the1994 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships,setting a lifetime best of 1:09:15. She was victorious at the1996 European Cross Country Championshipsbut was stripped of her title as she had failed a test for the steroidstanozololand received a two-year competitive ban for doping. After her ban had expired, she was again selected for the Romanian cross country and half marathon teams, but failed to medal. She competed in her firstmarathonin 2002 but retired from international competition in 2003.

Among her other achievements are two consecutive 10,000 m titles at theSummer Universiade,as well as circuit wins at theGreat South Run,Sapporo Half Marathonand theChibaandFukuoka Cross Countrymeetings.

Career

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Early career

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Born Iulia Negură inPiatra Neamț,Romania,[1]she made her debut at theIAAF World Cross Country Championshipsin 1987, coming in 50th place. She made her breakthrough three years later with a twelfth-place finish at the1990 IAAF World Cross Country Championships,followed by a win at theIAAF World Women's Road Race Championships.[2]She took a road win at theFoulées de Suresnesover 10 km in October.[3]She made her global track debut at the1991 World Championships in AthleticsinTokyowhere she was 17th over10,000 metres.[4]She also managed three national titles over that distance in her career.[5]She took a second world title over 15 km at the 1991 Women's Road Championships.[2]

World and Olympic competition

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In 1992 she reached the top twenty at the1992 IAAF World Cross Country Championshipsand also ran at the newly inauguratedIAAF World Half Marathon Championships,where she was tenth overall.[4]Among her appearances on the circuit that year was a win over 10 miles at theGreat South RuninPortsmouth.[6]She won the race for a second time the next year and improved upon her previous position at the1993 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships,finishing the race in seventh to help Romania to the women's team title withElena MurgociandAnuța Cătună.[7]She represented Romania in the 10,000 m at the1993 World Championships in Athletics,coming sixteenth.[4]

She was first at the 1994Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationaleand set a course record of 1:10:32.[8]Olteanu ran a personal best of 1:09:15 for the half marathon event at the1994 IAAF World Half Marathon Championshipsto take thesilver medalbehindElana Meyer,as well as leading the Romanian women to a second consecutive team title.[7]At the20 Kilomètres de Parisin October she won in a time of 1:08:04.[9]She was studying at university during this period and as a student she won theSummer Universiadetitles in the 10,000 m in 1993 and 1995,[10]as well agold medalat the 1994FISU Cross Country Championships.[11]

She was 29th in the long race at the1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships,sharing in the teambronze medal,while her eleventh-place finish at the1995 European Cross Country Championshipsbrought Romania the team silver medals at that event. Olteanu ran at the1995 IAAF World Half Marathon Championshipsbut did not manage to finish the race on that occasion. At the beginning of 1996 she won theChiba International Cross Countryin Japan.[12]She took twelfth place at the1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships,helping Romania to another team bronze, and made her Olympic debut on the track in August. Setting a career best mark of 31:26.46 minutes, she came eighth in the women's 10,000 m at the1996 Atlanta Olympics.[4]

Stripped title and doping ban

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Olteanu ended the year with her first win at a major continental competition, taking thegold medalat the1996 European Cross Country Championships.However, her performance did not stand as she had failed an out-of-competition drug test in early December, two weeks before the event. She received a four-year ban from competition for her use ofstanozolol(aperformance-enhancing steroid.[13]Her ban came at a time when numerous Romanian athletes were punished for doping infractions, marking a determined effort byIolanda Balaş,the president of theRomanian Athletics Federation(FRA), to clean up the national athletics scene.[14]In spite of this, the FRA opted to give Olteanu a two-year ban for her failed test, superseding the longer four-year ban set in place by theInternational Association of Athletics Federations.She became eligible for competition again in December 1998.[15]

Later career

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She made her international return at the1999 European Cross Country Championshipsand helped Romania to the team silver alongsideConstantina Diţă.Her efforts were principally focused on cross country over this period: she won theFukuoka International Cross Countryin 2000 and ran in both the long and short races at the2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships,finishing 46th in the long race and 21st over the shorter distance.[4][16]The following year she won both the Chiba and Fukuoka races in Japan at the beginning of 2001,[12]going on to place fifteenth in the short race at the2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.After taking the national title in the half marathon,[10]she ran at that year'sWorld Half Marathon Championshipsand came 22nd in the rankings.[4]She also competed on the Japanese road circuit in 2001 and was third at both theSapporo Half MarathonandKyoto Half Marathon.[17]

Olteanu decided to make a change up to themarathondistance in 2002 and she finished theVienna City Marathonin a time of 2:40:14 hours, placing sixth.[18]The 2003 season saw her final year of international competition: despite a win at the national half marathon championships, she failed to finish the race at the World Championships that year.[4]

Personal bests

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All information from IAAF Profile[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Iulia NegurăArchived2012-08-07 at theWayback Machine.Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  2. ^abIAAF World Women's Road Race Championships.GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  3. ^Foulées de Suresnes 10 km.Association of Road Racing Statisticians(2010-07-06). Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  4. ^abcdefghOlteanu Iulia.IAAF.Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  5. ^Romanian Championships.GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  6. ^Great South Run.GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  7. ^abIAAF World Half Marathon Championships 1992-2005 Facts & FiguresArchived2011-06-29 at theWayback Machine.IAAF.Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  8. ^Marseille-Cassis 20.3 km.Association of Road Racing Statisticians(2010-11-01). Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  9. ^20K de Paris.Association of Road Racing Statisticians(2010-10-12). Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  10. ^abWorld Student Games (Universiade) - Women.GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  11. ^World Student Cross Country Championships.GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  12. ^abChiba International Crosscountry.Association of Road Racing Statisticians(2011-02-14). Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  13. ^Athletics: Negura faces drugs ban.The Independent(1997-01-21). Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  14. ^Athletics: Romanians sack coach.The Independent(1997-04-10). Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  15. ^Romania Defends Its Two-Year Negura Ban[dead link].Xinhua News Agency(1997-02-21). Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  16. ^"An eighty years of history of Japan Association of Athletics Federations" ( nhật bổn lục thượng cạnh kỹ liên minh bát thập niên sử ), 2005,Japan Association of Athletics Federations.pp.150-151.
  17. ^2001 AIMS ROAD RACE LISTS (statistics).AIMS. Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
  18. ^de la Varre, René (October 2002).2002 Vienna City Marathon.Running Times.Retrieved on 2011-03-03.
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