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Sport is still a male-dominated world. Only 37% of all currently registered athletes are women. Their percentage is even lower when it comes to management positions in the representative institutions of Romanian and international sports. This important topic is debated in a complex book on Romanian women’s sports – “Women’s strength in sport” – coordinated by Andreea Paul. The book’s launch will take place on October 9, 2023, with the support of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee.
“Currently, women’s sport is less popular than men’s, despite spectacular results in international elite sport; secondly, there is no reason for this situation to continue. If you accept these premises, women’s sports offer the market a lot of new opportunities to increase the quality of life, commercial opportunities and new sports performances, a lot of new perspectives for reimagining the Romanian sports environment”, says the coordinator of the book, Andreea Paul.
The current context makes the strength of women in the sports industry and their determination to succeed even more evident. Romanian female athletes have brought 156 Olympic medals to Romania, more than men, since 1956. Romanian athletes won a total of 309 medals, most of which were obtained in gymnastics. And the most gold medals were won by women, 60, compared to 30 won by male athletes.
The testimonies of more than 80 women who have had outstanding performances in sports or have been related in one way or another to local women’s sports are gathered in the book “Women’s strength in sport” Andreea Paul expanded the perspective of the female sports world and she included in the coordinated volume, addition to testimonies of sportswomen and testimonies of female coaches and even female sports journalists. Historical data about the evolution of Romanian sport, statistics and information are added to the collected testimonies that create a complete and complex picture.
Women’s strength in sport is the fourth volume in the series dedicated by Andreea Paul to contemporary Romanian women. In the first part of the book, we find the stories of some Romanian women with exceptional results in gymnastics, athletics, rowing, fencing, etc., from Nadia Comăneci to Elisabeta Lipă, from Iolanda Balaș to Gabriela Szabó, from Ana Maria Brânză to Andreea Răducan. In the second part, we look at things from the point of view of some important female coaches who, over time, shaped talented children who then became performance athletes. The third part is dedicated to female journalists from the sports press, many of them writing for the first time in the first person, about their own careers and their professional experiences, a perspective that completes the image of women without whom Romanian sport would have been much poorer.
“I want these stories of Romanian sports champions to become an inspiration for the next generations. They demonstrated that nothing can be achieved in life without passion, work, perseverance and love for what you do”, declared Mihai Covaliu, president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, which supports this project.
One of Romania’s assets in the European and global picture is the results obtained in sports. Romania ranks second (after Hungary) in the number of medals won by a country that was not the host of the Olympic Games. Our position in the world charts is also significant due to female contributions.
“Women’s strength in sport” will be launched on Monday, October 9, 2023, from 15:00, at the Sports Museum. Along with Andreea Paul, Elisabeta Lipă and Mihai Covaliu will also speak. The event will end with an autograph session.
This event will be followed by a new debate at the Female Empowerment Summit, organized at the US Embassy, on October 17, 2023.
Andreea PAUL was born on September 10, 1978, in Zalău. She is a doctor in economics, a university lecturer at the Faculty of International Economic Relations of the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and the founder and president of the non-governmental organization INACO – Initiative for Competitiveness. For eight years she focused on research within the Institute of National Economy of the Romanian Academy, held the position of advisor in the Presidential Administration and in the European Parliament for three years each, then for three years was an advisor on economic issues to two prime ministers in the Government of Romania and four years deputy in the Romanian Parliament. At the Polirom Publishing House she also coordinated the books Political Force of Women (2011), Economic Force of Women (2016) and Civic Force of Women (2018).
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