“When you are 17, you have the feeling that everything is right!”

During his 27-year-old sports career, Ana-Maria Brânza obtained numerous medals, of which 13 at the European Championships, 7 at the World Championships and 3 at the Olympic Games. All this would not have been possible if it had been discouraged by his first experience in sports.

Ana-Maria Brânza did not climb the stage of Imobiliare.ro Hub National 2025 with a sword, but with stories that cut directly in the essence of performance. He talked about that “something” that made her feel at home in the fencing room and how true victory is not measured in money, but in the perseverance you show when you get up after every failure.

“I know it sounds like a cliché, but I think the fencing chose me”

“I know it sounds like a cliché, but I think the fencing chose me,” said cheese, explaining with fun how her parents decided to send her to play in an organized setting because she was not that child “to set up”. The first option? Field tennis. However, it turned out to be a real failure quickly.

“They didn't ask me if I want to go to tennis. They took a rocket from that with a wooden frame. I had 40 kg, the rocket 20 kg and we were carrying it on the ground every day. Arriving at the field tennis court, I was part of a group of 10 children, I was the only leftist, and that coach never thought about starting with the left, which was why I was last every time, I was bored, I was doing a rush, I was sent to beat the ball. After a year I gave up, “said the former swordsman during the event that marked 25 years of activity for the first indigenous portal that offered digitization services of the real estate market.

The rescue came from her brother, who at that time played the football team of CSA Steaua, who proposed an unexpected alternative – the fencing.

“I didn't know anything about the fencing, I didn't even imagine that there were athletes who were dueling as I saw in the movies. I was neither a friend with Zorro, nor with D'Artagnan, but he aroused my curiosity and I wanted to go to what it was. Which were dueling, I lived a feeling that I never lived in my life.

“It has become my house for more than 20 years and I do not regret even a day. The fencing was my great passion, it became a job, I lived and bad there, but I can say at the end, with all the pains and upset, the failures, but also with all the medals, that it was worth every second,” added the champion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsvozms07oy

Why do you play sports when profit is not guaranteed?

Asked if it is pointless to work in an area where many do not make a profit despite the efforts they make daily, Ana-Maria Brânza has responded honestly.

“I was the child who entered the room and wanted to become a champion. I had the courage and the bold to dream and worked every day for that dream. I knew I wanted to get to the podium at the medal. The gold medal is the strongest symbol for a athlete. It is a big mistake to think about whether it is profitable or not. You want to get to that medal. Subsequently, the rewards will definitely come”, Said the former athlete during the event organized by Imobiliare.ro.

Moreover, it wanted to mention that the gold medals that athletes can win are not far from gold. Only those at the Olympic Games are blown with gold, another indication that their actual value is not in material things.

The financial education offered by parents was a real help. The former athlete said that they knew how to guide her from the first moments when she won something from sports. Parents decided that a considerable part of his first earnings, more precisely 80%, would reach an account at the bank, and the rest of the amount would be spent exactly as he wanted.

“When you are 17 years old and you have earned your first money you have the feeling that everything is right. Nothing wrong”added Ana-Maria Brânza. She also acknowledged that in order to make money in the Romanian sport you must reach notable performances and few are the ones who succeed.

What does it really mean to do performance in sports?

The road to the peak is not a straight line, and the former swordsman knows best what it means to fall exactly when everyone expects to shine. Each medal comes with an unseen price: failures, renunciations and moments of doubt. And sometimes, even the best ones get down – on their own.

“In performance it is not just about medals and recognition. There are times when you are down,” said cheese, reminiscent of the 2012 London Olympics, when it was eliminated from the first tours.

“The only option you have when you are down is to get up, to shield yourself, to start again on the path of performance,” the sportswoman pointed out.