Golden Athletes - Gabriela Szabo

Romfilatelia and Romanian Post introduce into circulation on Friday, November 14th, this year a postage stamp issue dedicated to a world-class athlete.

Under the title Golden Athletes. Gabriela Szabó, the issue consists of a postage stamp (with the face value of Lei 25), a perforated souvenir sheet (with the face value of Lei 30), a First Day Cover, a maxicard for maximaphily enthusiasts and a philatelic folder with special product in a limited run printing.

The great athlete was born on November 14th, 1975, in Bistrița. Her athletic abilities were discovered by chance at the age of 12, during a school cross-country race.

A graduate of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, she had only one coach, Zsolt Gyöngyössy, who became her husband in 2004.

Gabriela Szabó, who shone at the highest level as an athlete between 1994 and 2002, won at least one medal at major competitions almost every year. She is known as the first and only Romanian female athlete to have won Olympic medals of all three colors: gold (5000 meters, Sydney 2000), silver (1500 meters, Atlanta 1996), and bronze (1500 meters, Sydney 2000). After Lia Manoliu, she is the second Romanian athlete to have climbed the Olympic podium three times.

At the 1997 World Athletics Championships, she became the first Romanian woman to win a gold medal at a competition of this level. In 1998, she became the first athlete in the world to achieve the best world performance in five events within the same year: 1500 meters, one mile, 2000 meters, 3000 meters, and 5000 meters.

In 1999, after winning three world titles in three different events (5000 meters outdoors in Seville, and 1500 meters and 3000 meters indoors in Maebashi), she was named “Athlete of the Year” by the IAAF (now World Athletics) and “World Female Athlete of the Year” by the International Sports Press Association.

The world’s best athlete confirmed her value through her performance at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, where she won the 5000 meters race with an Olympic record time of 14:40.79 minutes, a record that stood for 16 years.

We remind that Gabriela Szabó became, at only 19 years old, in Barcelona (1995), the youngest indoor world champion, in an event in which she later broke three world records: 2000 meters (1998), 5000 meters (1999), and 3000 meters (2001), to which she added the 3000 meters outdoor event (2002).

In 1999, Gabriela Szabó, winner of the Golden League tournament alongside Wilson Kipketer, shared the grand prize with him: 50 kg of gold.

In the world of domestic sports, she was named the country’s best female athlete ten times in a row.

After retiring from competition in 2004, Gabriela Szabó served as Federal Secretary for Marketing and Development within the Romanian Athletics Federation and as Vice President of the same organization, before being appointed Minister of Youth and Sports in 2014.

The cities of Bistrița, Cluj-Napoca, and Bucharest awarded her the title of “Honorary Citizen”.

To the distinction she received from the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, the “Olympic Chain”, were added the titles of “Honored Master of Sport” and the National Order of “Faithful Service”, in the rank of Commander.

Currently, the “Golden Athlete” is part of the Executive Committee of the Rowing Federation, as a member elected for a four-year term, with responsibility for leading the Information and Marketing Commission.

The philatelic folder is created into a limited run printing of 213 pieces and is equipped with the special philatelic block of the issue, containg two imperforated stamps and a gold medal framed in a perforated circle. The special philatelic block is numbered from 001 to 213.

We thank Ms. Gabriela Szabó and the representatives of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee for their documentary support granted in the development of this postage stamp issue.