Career
Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of 11th in the two-man event at Vancouver in 2010. At the FIBT World Championships, Istrate earned his best finish of 8th in the two-man event at Königssee in 2011. He used to be a decathlete for the Romanian Team.
Istrate is married with Diana Dumitrescu who is an athlete as well.