Lipa Looks to Beijing

Lipa winning gold number five at Athens
© Pete Spurrier

What do you do when you have already surpassed all records in the book? For Romania’s Elisabeta Lipa you collect more.

The most medalled Olympic rower in history, Elisabeta Lipa has announced that she will go for Olympics number eight – Beijing 2008.

If Lipa is successful in winning gold at Beijing she will go down in the record books as the only rower with six Olympic golds. She will also, at the age of 43, be the oldest Olympic medallist in rowing. On top of that Lipa will have the longest span between gold medals – 24 years and competing at a total of seven Olympic Games will add the record of competing at more Olympic Games than any other rower.

But the Romanian woman rower of the century has added a proviso for going to Beijing. Lipa told Reuters, “I put a condition to the Romanian government for my presence at the 2008 Olympics – to build an Olympic six-lane waterway in Romania.”

Lipa’s influence in her country means that her proviso will not go unheard by the government. At Athens the President of Romania Mr. Ion Iliescu specifically came to watch Lipa’s eight compete in the first round of racing and stayed to meet the crew after the race.

Rowing came into Lipa’s life in 1979 at the age of 14 when a recruiter came to her high school in home town of Botoshani. Three week later she began training at the Olympic Rowing Centre in Bucharest and before the age of 20 Lipa had already collected her first Olympic gold and three World Championship medals including one gold.

Lipa is well known for her post-Olympic retirements. She announced her retirement after Atlanta in 1996 and did not compete again until early 2000 in time to be part of the Sydney gold medal winning eight. Lipa retired once again after Sydney only to return again in 2003 to help her country’s eight qualify for the Athens Olympics.

Before Athens Lipa stated, “This comeback is to strive for a personal record, to participate in six Games and win a fifth gold medal.” After achieving this record at Athens Lipa again indicated retirement by saying, “It was my last race.”

Last week Lipa announced the possibility of Olympics number seven.

Lipa has recently been nominated for the Eurosport Sport Star Award and the Women’s Sports Foundation, 2004 Sportswoman of the Year Award.