Nicolae Juravschi reelected for fourth term as NOC head

Nicolae Juravschi was reelected head of the National Olympic Committee (NOC). He obtained 86 votes, twice the number of challenger Tudor Casapu. Overall, each federation representing an Olympic sport had two votes and one non-Olympic sport had a vote. This will be the former double Olympic champion’s fourth term at the helm of the NOC. “The trust shown in me will oblige me to prove right your expectation in the next Olympic cycle of four years. We’ll go forward together”, said Juravschi after his reelection. Meanwhile, Tudor Casapu was disappointed by the choice made by some NOC members. “I thought people would change, but only few did”. This is the third time Juravschi defeats Casapu in the NOC leader elections since 2004. The special session of NOC’s Election and Report Meeting took 7 hours and there were some tense moments, when the supporters of the two candidates exchanged accusation. Several NOC members said Juravschi's MP status should make him ineligible. At the beginning of the meeting, Juravschi’s PLDM colleague Prime Minister Vlad Filat came to support him. However, Filat wasn’t satisfied with the manner of the election. “I expected a competition of ideas and projects for the future and it’s regrettable that instead we’ve witnessed personal accusations and all sorts of insinuations. Sports imply fair play”. Nicolae Piatac and Victor Peicov were elected vice presidents and 15 people were appointed on the NOC Board. Nicolae Juravschi, 48, won two gold medals at the 1988 Olympics in Seul and a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta in the double canoe competition with Victor Reneischi. He won 8 other gold medals at World Championships. Nicolae Juravschi is master of canoeing and was awarded the Order of the Republic in 1996. In 2001, Moldovan journalists chose him the best Moldovan athlete of the 20th century.