Ludmila Cristea

Career

At age fourteen, Cristea made her official debut, as a judoka, for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she competed in the women"s lightweight category (57 kg). Unfortunately, she lost the first preliminary round match to Netherlands" Jessica Gal, who successfully scored a yuko, but incurred a penalty for playing outside the contest area, at four minutes. She defeated Venezuela"s Marcia Andrades in the preliminary round of sixteen, before losing out the quarterfinal match to Canadian wrestler and Olympic silver medalist Tonya Verbeek, who was able to score three points each in two straight periods, leaving Cristea without a single point.

Achievements

• Since 2006, Cristea had won a total of four medals (three silver and one bronze) for the 55 kg class at the European Wrestling Championships.

Membership

Eight years after competing in her first Olympics, Cristea qualified for the women"s 55 kg class this time, as a member of the Moldovan wrestling team, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.