Youth Olympic Competition winner at ISOH General Assembly

Youth Olympic Competition winner at ISOH General Assembly

by Philip Barker in Istanbul

An invitation to the ISOH General Assembly in Istanbul was part of the prize for the winners of our Young Ambassadors competition at the International Olympic Academy (IOA) in Ancient Olympia.

Romanian sports psychologist Alex Iscru and Mihaela Mitu, who works in the international relations department at the Romanian Olympic Committee, had won the overall competition.

“It is a huge honour to be part of this assembly. Momentum creates momentum and I’ve been fortunate to have two important moments this year,” Iscru said.

“The International Olympic Academy was life changing, I had the opportunity to be part of an incredible journey. I thought we would only realise how important these moments were when we were on the bus leaving the Academy,” he added.

The challenge for the entrants had been to create a poster relating the heritage of the Olympics in their countries.

“How can you put over 126 years of Olympic History in one poster, you can’t just put Nadia Comăneci on it and then finish?” Iscru asked ISOH members.

“I knew how important it was to prepare. I was afraid of doing something just because it had to be done.”

He read many books in his research for writing the text for the poster while Mitu took responsibility for the design and ‘look’ of the poster.

“Romanian Olympic History means 318 Olympic medals, the respect of the Olympic world and the legacy of the nation,” added Iscru.

The winning entry included shooter Iosif Sîrbu who was Romania’s first Olympic champion, the great canoeist Ivan Patzaichi, discus gold medallist Lia Manoliu, later a distinguished sports administrator and of course Comăneci.

The competition had been organised by ISOH Executive Board members Professor Mariia Bulatova and Dr Tolga Sinoforoglou, who joined a judging panel which included Special Advisor Dr Dionyssis Gangas and Dean Professor Kostas Georgiadis from the IOA.

“The visualisation of the poster was very attractive,” explained Bulatova. “There was also that rich history of Romanian sport. The achievements were demonstrated totally. Both of them were very well prepared, they knew the history, they could answer questions about it.”

Unfortunately, Mitu was unable to attend the ISOH GA, but both will be given an ISOH membership as part of their prize.

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