The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Moldova

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This page contains a list of the greatest Moldovan Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 6 of which were born in Moldova. This makes Moldova the birth place of the 68th most number of Athletes behind Thailand, and Azerbaijan.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Moldovan Athletes of all time. This list of famous Moldovan Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Moldovan Athletes.

Photo of Lia Manoliu

1. Lia Manoliu (1932 - 1998)

With an HPI of 52.73, Lia Manoliu is the most famous Moldovan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages on wikipedia.

Lia Manoliu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈli.a manoˈli.u]; 25 April 1932 – 9 January 1998) was a Romanian discus thrower who won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals. She was the first track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics (1952–1972).

Photo of Tudor Casapu

2. Tudor Casapu (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 39.28, Tudor Casapu is the 2nd most famous Moldovan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Tudor Casapu (born 18 September 1963) is a Moldovan weightlifter, World Champion and Olympic Champion. He won a gold medal at the 1990 World Weightlifting Championships, and a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Photo of Natalia Valeeva

3. Natalia Valeeva (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 37.58, Natalia Valeeva is the 3rd most famous Moldovan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Natalia Valeeva (born 15 November 1969 in Tîrnauca, Transnistria) is a naturalized Italian archer. She is a five-time Olympian and former world number one, and a native of Moldova, having represented the Unified Team, Moldova and Italy, at the Olympic Games of 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. She won the individual and team bronze medals in the 1992 Olympic Games.

Photo of Sergiu Toma

4. Sergiu Toma (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 27.86, Sergiu Toma is the 4th most famous Moldovan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Sergiu Toma (born 29 January 1987) is a Moldovan-born Emirati judoka. He competed for the United Arab Emirates in the 81 kg category at the 2016 Olympic Games and defeated Takanori Nagase to enter the semi-finals. He lost his semi-final match to Khasan Khalmurzaev, but then beat Matteo Marconcini in the bronze medal match. At the 2008 and 2012 Olympics he competed for Moldova but was eliminated in the early rounds. Toma has a law degree from the Moldova State University. In 2008, he considered retiring from sport due to financial problems. He stayed, and in 2011 was named Moldovan Athlete of the Year. After the 2012 Olympics he moved to the United Arab Emirates, together with five other Moldovan judoka and the national coach Vasile Colta.

Photo of Alexandra Camenșcic

5. Alexandra Camenșcic (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 24.51, Alexandra Camenșcic is the 5th most famous Moldovan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Alexandra Camenscic (born 28 August 1988) is a Moldovan cross-country skier who has competed since 2009. She finished 71st in the 10 km event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Brice finished 84th in the individual sprint event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec. Her best career finish was tenth in a 7.5 km mass start event at Slovakia in 2009.

Photo of Cristina Iovu

6. Cristina Iovu (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 22.80, Cristina Iovu is the 6th most famous Moldovan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Cristina Iovu (born 8 November 1992) is a Moldovan–born Azerbaijani-Romanian weightlifter competing in the –53 kg division. She is banned by the International Weightlifting Federation until 2026 for Blood substitution.

Photo of Mikhaela Kalancha

7. Mikhaela Kalancha (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 0.00, Mikhaela Kalancha is the 7th most famous Moldovan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Mikhaela Olegovna Kalancha (Russian: Михаэла Олеговна Каланча, born 5 July 1994) is a Moldovan-born Russian competitor in synchronised swimming.

Photo of Anna Dulce

8. Anna Dulce (b. 2005)

With an HPI of 0.00, Anna Dulce is the 8th most famous Moldovan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Anna Dulce (born 22 October 2005) is a Moldovan sports shooter. She competed in the women's 10 metre air pistol event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, held July–August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

Photo of Alexandra Mîrca

9. Alexandra Mîrca (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 0.00, Alexandra Mîrca is the 9th most famous Moldovan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Alexandra Mîrca (born 11 October 1993) is a Moldovan archer. She competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's individual, and Mixed team. She competed at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, in Singapore, and 2019 European Games .

Photo of Constantin Preis

10. Constantin Preis (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 0.00, Constantin Preis is the 10th most famous Moldovan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Constantin Preis (born 16 May 1998) is a German athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles. He represented his country at the 2019 World Championships in Doha without advancing from the first round. His personal best in the event was 49.23 seconds set in Zürich in 2019, he improved it to 48.60 at Centre sportif Bout-du-Monde, in Geneva (SUI) on 12 June 2021.

People

Pantheon has 28 people classified as Moldovan athletes born between 1932 and 2005. Of these 28, 27 (96.43%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Moldovan athletes include Tudor Casapu, Natalia Valeeva, and Sergiu Toma. The most famous deceased Moldovan athletes include Lia Manoliu. As of April 2024, 22 new Moldovan athletes have been added to Pantheon including Mikhaela Kalancha, Anna Dulce, and Alexandra Mîrca.

Living Moldovan Athletes

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Deceased Moldovan Athletes

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Newly Added Moldovan Athletes (2024)

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