In order to honour the performances of Romanian athletes at this year’s Paralympic Games, Romfilatelia introduces into circulation on Thursday, September 19th, 2024, the postage stamps issue entitled Paralympic Medals, Paris 2024.
The two postage stamps of the issue are dedicated to the Paralympic athletes Camelia Ciripan (face value of Lei 6), who won the bronze medal in the women’s singles para table tennis event and to Alexandru Bologa (face value of Lei 13), winner of the gold medal in judo in the 73 kg category, blind.
The Paralympic movement emerged as a large-scale activity only after the World War II.
The Stoke Mandeville Games, originally organized in the United Kingdom in 1944, later became the Paralympic Summer Games, which were first held in Rome, Italy, in 1960. This first event was attended by 400 athletes from 23 countries.
Romania’s first participation in the Paralympic Games was at the 1972 edition in Heidelberg (in table
tennis), with representatives in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000 (in powerlifting). Athens (2004) was the first time Romania had representatives in two sports: cycling and powerlifting.
The athletes at the Paralympic Games are grouped into six major categories: visually impaired, physically disabled, amputees, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and others. Each of these categories has its own classification system, which differs depending on the sport.
“The darkness disappears if you see with your heart and mind.”
Alexandru Bologa is the only judoka in Romania with total visual impairment. He lost his eyesight at the age of 6 and started his sport with swimming, later switching to judo. In this discipline, he is a double Paralympic bronze medallist at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (2016) and Tokyo (2020).
The gold medal won at Paris 2024 crowns the effort, dedication and ambition of this eminent athlete to become one of the leading personalities of Romanian sport, establishing himself as an emblem of the national sports movement.
On the illustrated border of the minisheet with the face value of Lei 13, the text “In the dark, your heart and mind find your way” is written with embossed letters of the Braille alphabet.
Camelia Ciripan, Romania’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, Paris 2024, won the bronze medal in the women’s singles table tennis event, the first medal won by Romania at Paralympic Games.
In November 2022 she was a bronze medalist at the World Para Championships in Granada, Spain, in the women’s singles table tennis event, the first medal won by Romania at a World Para Championships.
Congratulations, Alex and Camelia! Much respect to your coaches and those who support you every day to find yourselves among the winners!
