Gheorghe Gruia Marinescu (October 2, 1940 – December 9, 2015) was a Romanian handball player, coach and sports official. Born in Bucharest, Gruia won the gold medal in the 1964 World Handball Championship and the 1970 World Championship. In the 1972 Summer Olympics he won the bronze medal with the Romanian team and become the top scorer of the competition with 37 goals. He played as a right back and spent his entire professional career with Steaua Bucharest.[1]
The International Handball Federation named him in 1992 "The Greatest Handball Player of All Times".[2]
Gruia resided in Mexico City, Mexico since 1978, where he worked as a coach and an official in this sport and is credited with popularizing this sport in the country.[3]
He died on December 9, 2015, in Mexico City following a heart attack.[4] Gruia is considered the 'father of handball' in Mexico.[5]
His daughter, Andreea, is a Mexican former telenovela actress who is known for playing in Spanish language telenovelas on Televisa.
Honours
Team
- 8× Romanian League Champion: 1963, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973
- European Cup Champion: 1968
Gold
- Runner-up: 1971
Silver
- Runner-up: 1971
National team
Romania
- 2× World Champion: 1964, 1970 Gold
- World Championship: 1967
Bronze - Summer Olympic Games: 1972 Bronze
Orders
Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv": 2009.[6]
References
- ^ "Gheorghe Gruia: La zurda rumana que dominó el mundo" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ "Handball World Mourns the Loss of Icon, Friend & Teacher". International Handball Federation. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ^ "Interviu cu Gheorghe Gruia" (in Romanian). Adevărul. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ^ "Doliu în sportul românesc. A murit Gheorghe Gruia, cel mai valoros handbalist român din toate timpurile". ProSport (in Romanian).
- ^ "Georghe Gruia Marinescu, el Pelé del handball" (in Spanish). Deportes UNAM. 12 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ^ "Comunicat de presă" (in Romanian). old.presidency.ro. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
Bibliography
- Horia Alexandrescu, Gruia, Mister Handbal, Vivaldi, 2009 ISBN 978-973-150-033-1
External links
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Gheorghe Gruia". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
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