Romania, the country that got the 5th place in the world in bobsled, without owning a specific slope: “It was like a miracle”

The athlete Mihai Cristian Tentea, who got the 5th place in the men's bob-2 event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, together with George Iordache, said that the performance exceeded their expectations.

Mihai Cristian Tentea and George Iordache, after the race PHOTO Facebook COSR

“It's hard to describe what I felt yesterday. It was like a miracle, it was an unexpected result, we exceeded our own expectations that we had before the race started. It's a huge performance we feel and the more time passes the more important this result seems to be“, said pilot Tentea.

He stated that the absence of a bobsleigh track in Romania influenced the level of training, but that he cannot say whether the result would have been better if he had trained in the country. The situation is comparable to that of former tennis player Simona Halep, who triumphed at Wimbledon 2019, without there being a grass court in our country.

“Of course, if we had a bobsleigh track in Romania, we would have had higher expectations, but the final result I don't know how much it would have been different, given our current level. But I think that if we had a slope maybe our level would have been higher. But we have no way of knowing, because for now that's all we have. And with what we have now we have managed to excel in a very beautiful way. We managed to show the world that you don't necessarily need to have a slope, but that you really want to perform when it matters most. We focused on the things that mattered and that was the most important thing“, said the Romanian bobber.

“In the pre-Olympic year we were supported a lot by the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, we received a new four-person bobsleigh and a few pairs of skates, which helped us a lot, helped us have an equal chance with the other stronger teams. They helped us have options in choosing skates. I had the opportunity to have an equal chance with others“, he added.

Congratulations from Nicușor Dan

Tentea also stated that he felt flattered by the congratulations received from the President of Romania, Nicușor Dan.

“It's really flattering to have the president call you, it feels weird. We're not used to getting this much attention. Every message from people we don't know is flattering, it really feels different, it feels like we're finally getting a performance in the true sense of the word and we hope it gets better and better from now onTentea also said.

His bobsleigh colleague, George Iordache, appreciates that the last leg of the competition was the best of the Romanian crew.

“In my opinion the last chance leg was the best. I probably had a lot of emotions too and everything feels different. It's not that simple at the back either, you need a lot of training, you need a lot of descents, a lot of synchronization at the start. But we can be proud of this result“, said Iordache.

He believes that the atmosphere within the team is very important in the competition: “The atmosphere inside the team is very important, this is the secret in a united and well-prepared team. The results will always come”.

Bobbers Mihai Cristian Tentea and George Iordache achieved Romania's best result at the Winter Olympics in the last 34 years on Tuesday, the 5th place in the men's bobsled-2 event, in Milan-Cortina.

Tentea and Iordache kept their place on Monday after the first two heats, but they could have hoped for more had they not been clocked tenth in the first heat.

The Romanians were recorded with a cumulative time of 3 min 42 sec 37/100, this being the best Romanian result at the Winter Olympics since 1992 (Albertville), when Ioan Apostol and Liviu Cepoi took fourth place in the men's double luge event. Tentea and Iordache beat the sixth place taken by the same two lugers in 1994 in Lillehammer.

Mihai Tentea and George Iordache achieved Romania's best performance in bobsleigh after the 1972 Olympics, from Sapporo.

Romania's only medal at the Winter Olympics was the bronze won in the men's bobsleigh, by Ion Panțuru and Nicolae Neagoe, in 1968, in Grenoble.