Valentin Crețu, 15th place in individual luge at Milan Cortina 2026, the best position in the five Olympic participations!
Article by Luminița Paul – Published on Sunday, 08 February 2026, 20:46 / Updated on Sunday, 08 February 2026 20:47
Romanian cross-country skier Valentin Crețu (36 years old) ranked 15th in the individual event at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games. In his previous appearances, he had been no higher than 29th.
The second day of the Milan Cortina Olympic Games brought several Romanian athletes into action, and the best result belongs to a veteran. Valentin Crețuaged 36, in his fifth appearance in the biggest multisport competition on the planet, managed to beat his previous milestones.
After the first day, in which the first two heats were contested, he was in 13th position. He finished the first part of the race one step higher, with a time of 53.702 s, 0.778 behind the first place holder, the German Max Langenhan52,924 s.
But then, with a total time of 1:47.482, 1.656 behind the same Langenhan, he was 13th.
“With how many years behind me, I feel very well all the slopes. My personal problem would be that I always want more“, he said for Team Romania. He wanted and he got it.
Valentin Crețu, excellent third leg, final place 15
Today he had a very good third leg. He seemed to be in a tunnel of his own, error-free, holding all the corners well, so he climbed back into 12th. The overall time was 2:41.008, 2.477s behind leader Langenham.
A little more than half an hour later came the last part of the Olympic competition, one in which the “tricolor” did not find the same accuracy of evolution. A few hesitations affected his course and he ultimately lost three positions. With a total time of 3:34.986, 3.795 s behind the winner, the experienced Romanian sportsman managed the best performance of all his participations at the Olympic Games, 15th place!
Valentin Crețu at the Milan Olympics Cortina 2026 Photo: Guliver/GettyImages
At the previous editions where he was present, he ranked on 31 at Vancouver 2010, then on 29 in Sochi 2014, Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022. However, he achieved better positions in the mixed relay, 9 in 2022 and 10 in 2018.
The other representative of Romania, Eduard Crăciun (25 years old), started from position 25 in the third leg. Only the first 20 had the possibility to progress in the last part of the race, and even if he didn't get there, Edi managed a very good course. He recovered two positions and finished the competition in his Olympic debut in 23rd place.
The Olympic title returned to the German for the first time Max Langenhan3:31.191, new track record, followed by the Austrian Jonas Muellerat 0.596 s, and by the Italian Dominik Fischnallerat 0.934 s. Aged 26, Langenhan has 6 world titles, including two individual, two silver and one bronze medals. The performance in Milano Cortina represents his first appearance on the Olympic podium.
Places 50 and 54 in 20 km skiathlon
Two other Romanian athletes competed today, in cross-country skiing, in the 10 km + 10 km skiathlon event (classic, then free). Paul Melpene (37 years old), in his fifth Olympic appearance in a row, ranked on 50th placewith a time of 51:18.2. In the previous editions, in this event, contested over 30 km (15+15), he had ranked higher: 29 in 2010, 47 in 2014, 24 in 2018 and 28 in 2022. Gabriel Cojocaru (22 years old), Olympic debutant, ranked on 54th placein 53:00,2.
