Education
His international debut was in an international tournament in East Berlin (1951) where he finished second. He also finished 4th in the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne,and then 6th in the World Championship in Budapest, 1958.
His international debut was in an international tournament in East Berlin (1951) where he finished second. He also finished 4th in the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne,and then 6th in the World Championship in Budapest, 1958.
He took up wrestling at a very young age, with the “Vulturii” club in Lugoj. During his career he would also represent the following clubs: “Știința” Bucharest, “Steagul Roșu” Braşov and (for the most part) Steaua Bucharest. His Olympic debut (Helsinki 1952) was less successful (2 defeats, 9th place).
Many were sceptic about how he would fare at the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome.
However, after victories against wrestlers from the United States, Japan and Yugoslavia and a draw against the Soviet representative, Pârvulescu found himself facing one of the hosts’sporting heroes, the deaf wrestler Ignazio Fabbra, one of the undisputed stars of the 52 kg category, in the gold medal bout. The Romanian’s intelligent tactics secured him a narrow points victory and the Olympic title.
Losing to Gheorghe Berceanu in the Romanian championship finally persuaded him to retire “from the mat” and become a coach. Dumitru Pârvulescu coached for Steaua Bucharest and subsequently for L.C. “Vulcan” Bucharest.
In addition, he was often commissioned by the Romanian wrestling Federation to select talented youngsters from various parts of the country.