Maria Cioncan

Maria Cioncan (June 19, 1977 – January 21, 2007) was a middle distance runner from Romania, best known for winning a bronze medal in the 1500 metres event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Born in Maieru, she set personal bests in both 800 and 1500 metres during the games. Her 2005 season was abbreviated, and the only notable competition was the SPAR European Cup in Firenze, Italy where she won the 800 (2:00.88) and placed second in the 1500 (4:07.39). Cioncan's last competition on the top international level was the 2006 World Indoor Championships, where she failed to progress past the first heat of the 800m. Earlier that indoor season she ran an indoor personal best of 2:01.70.

On January 21, 2007, Maria died in a car accident near Pleven, Bulgaria. She was returning from a training camp in Greece when her vehicle flipped over and struck a tree, killing her instantly.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing  Romania
2002	European Indoor Championships	Vienna, Austria	11th	3000 m
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	9th	1500 m
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	7th	800 m
			3rd	1500 m
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	8th	800 m
			10th	1500 m

Personal bests

• 800 metres - 1:59.44 min (2004)
• 1500 metres - 3:58.39 min (2004)
• 3000 metres - 8:57.71 min (2002)

External links

• IAAF profile for Maria Cioncan
• Press Association (21 January 2007). "Cioncan, Olympic 1500m bronze medallist, killed in car accident". IAAF. http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=131072/newsId=37292.html. Retrieved 2007-01-21. 
• http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n103809

Persondata
Name	Cioncan, Maria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 19, 1977
Place of birth
Date of death	January 21, 2007
Place of death