Elisabeta Lipă

Elisabeta Lipă

Personal information
Birth name	Elisabeta Oleniuc
Born	26 October 1964 (1964-10-26) (age 52) Siret, Suceava County, Romania
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	80 kg (180 lb)
Minister of Youth and Sport
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 November 2015
President	Klaus Iohannis
Prime Minister	Dacian Cioloș
Preceded by	Gabriela Szabo
Sport
Sport	Rowing
Club	Dinamo Bucureşti
Medal record Women's rowing Representing  Romania Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Double sculls 1992 Barcelona Single sculls 1996 Atlanta Eight 2000 Sydney Eight 2004 Athens Eight 1988 Seoul Double sculls 1992 Barcelona Double sculls 1988 Seoul Quadruple sculls World Rowing Championships 1989 Bled Single scull 1985 Hazewinkel Double sculls 1986 Nottingham Double sculls 1987 Copenhagen Double sculls 1989 Bled Double sculls 1991 Vienna Single sculls 1991 Vienna Double sculls 1994 Indianapolis Coxless pairs 2003 Milan Eights 1982 Lucerne Quadruple sculls 1983 Duisburg Double sculls 1984 Montreal Eights 1994 Indianapolis Eights

Elisabeta Lipă (Romanian pronunciation: [elisaˈbeta ˈlipə]; born Elisabeta Oleniuc on 26 October 1964) is a retired rower and government official from Romania. She is the most decorated rower in the history of the Olympics, winning five gold, two silver and one bronze medals. She holds the record amongst rowers for the most years between gold medals, at 20 years.

Since 2004, Lipă has served in various government positions including Minister of Youth and Sport in the current cabinet under Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș. Since 2009, she has also served as the President of the Romanian Rowing Federation and the Dinamo București Sports Club.

Lipă debuted at the age of 19 at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, where she won her first gold medal in the double sculls event. She won her most recent gold medal in the eight-oared boat at the Athens Summer Olympics in 2004. She is the only person to win a gold medal in the two premiere rowing events: the single scull and the eight oared boat. She is also one of very few women to win a gold medal in both a sculling (two oars per person) and a sweep (one oar per person) event. (Canada's Kathleen Heddle and Marnie McBean accomplished the same, sculling and sweep gold medals, in 1992 and 1996.)

In 2004, she became the first female rower to compete at six Olympics. This was first done by Czech rower Jiří Pták (cox) in 1992 and equalled in 2008 by Canadian Lesley Thompson (cox), Estonian Jüri Jaanson, and Australian James Tomkins.

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