Article by Tudor Belivacă – Published Sunday, December 28, 2025 9:24 p.m. / Updated Sunday, December 28, 2025 9:41 p.m.
Cristian Gațu, the former great handball player of Romania, remarried civilly, at the age of 80, with Mariana Oprea (56 years old). The event took place at Oradea City Hall on December 23.
The legendary handball player wanted a limited event at Oradea City Hall. Cristian Gațu divorced his ex-wife, Tamara, in 2024, after a marriage of 53 years.
PHOTO. Cristian Gațu, the former great handball player, remarried at 80 years old
The images from the civil wedding of the former great handball player were published on the Internet by relatives who were present in the hall at the ceremony, writes the Click tabloid.
Cristian Gațu divorced his ex-wife, Tamara, in 2024. She accused him of cheating on her with the housekeeper and demanded compensation of 500,000 lei plus a monthly pension of 5,000 lei.
Cristian Gațu was saved on appeal in the divorce process, after the ex-wife had won the case in the first instance.
In the middle of the divorce process, Cristian Gațu appeared in 2024 for the first time with the woman he would marry on December 23, 2025.
I advise people not to wait so long, 50-something years, and to be more cautious in their relationship with their wives. I was tolerant and tried to smooth over any kind of conflict between me and my wife, which cost me
–Cristian Gațuafter the appeal verdict, also referring to the medical problems he faced.
-
Cristian Gațu is one of the greatest handball players in the history of Romania. He was part of the tricolor team at the two world titles in 1970 and 1974.
-
Cristian Gațu also has a bronze medal at the 1972 Olympic Games and a silver medal in 1976.
-
At club level he performed for Steaua and won two national titles. He was the president of the Romanian Handball Federation for 18 years, between 1996 and 2014.
