The people with initiative spirit are those who move things on in a society. “Created in Moldova” is the new title of an IPN campaign about people who distinguished themselves in 2018 through different accomplishments, creations, technologies or actions.
Moldovan wrestler Victor Ciobanu was born in Vărvăreuca village of Florești district. He is 26 and started to practice fighting when he was seven. Before this, he flirted with dance sport and football. He became involved in fighting because her wanted to practice a more interesting and manly sport. In time he realized the type of sport he chose made him more disciplined and made him show more tenacity.
Iurie Bogdan was the coach that guided him during the first three years. He laid the technical training foundations in him. The training hall in Florești is situated at a distance of 5 km from his native village. “It was a kind of warmup and I walked to the hall almost daily, from Monday through Friday, even if it was raining, snowing or was windy,” related Victor Ciobanu. In Florești, he won his first medal, a silver one. “I had a friend who all the time beat everyone in his weight class. I permanently lost to him during at most 20 seconds. I took revenge on him in time,” stated the athlete.
In 2004, after he graduated from the fifth class, he was admitted to the National Boarding Lyceum. He remembers he was then small in height and rather thin and competed in the 32 kg weight class. At the lyceum, he started real work and began to struggle for victory. “At the lyceum, emphasis was placed on physical training and there I started to more intensely take part in competitions. A considerable role was played by my mates who trained together with me there. If they hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have grown so much,” stated Victor Ciobanu with gratitude.
He started to take part in international tournaments in 2007. In 2009 he ranked third at the European Cadet Championships. In 2012 he finished second at the World Championships in Thailand and third at the European Championships in Croatia. In 2014 he beamed for the first time European U23 champion in Poland. In the final, he fought against Russia’s Zaur Kobalev and the technique known as “flying squirrel” or “last chance” brought him the gold medal. This year the Moldovan athlete has won silver at the World Championships of Budapest, in the 60 kg class. “There is a harsh struggle at competitions every time and you need resistance, strategic thinking and know where you cannot cheat,” said Victor Ciobanu.
Beside work and daily training, nutrition is also important. “Before championships, I follow a regime without dairy products, with less sugar, less oil and the fried food is excluded two-three months before the big competitions. The regime must contain a lot of fruit, grains, baked food and less meat,” noted the fighter.
Victor Ciobanu said it is very hard to obtain financial resources so as to train and take part in competitions. The state becomes involved, but not sufficiently. “Each athlete who represents the country should be supported. Our halls are not properly outfitted. Not many athletes receive financial support, including for food. Only those who are the first. But not only the top ones should be supported, but also those who rank second and third,” he noted. He always wanted to represent Moldova at competitions as he was born here. He was offered to represent another state, where the training conditions are better and the financial support is larger, but he refused.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are an objective that he wants to achieve. “Work is the most important thing. If you work you achieve results. Fighting is not about luck. It is only about work. I’m ready to work up to the last drop of blood so as to reach the Olympic Games, as I’m ready to do this for any other competition,” stated the athlete. The Olympic qualification tickets will be decided at the World Championships of next autumn. After New Year, the athlete starts the preparations for the competitions of 2019, which are many in number and very important. Until then he will spend the holidays with the family “as they are those who always support you, in any circumstances”.
In 2018, Victor Ciobanu was named the athlete of the year by the Sports Press Association and also by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research. Alongside him, the coach of the national Greco-Roman wrestling team Mihail Cucu was named coach of the year.
Sabina Rebeja, IPN
