One of Romania’s premiere alpine skiers, Mihai Bîră made his Olympic début at the 1948 St. Moritz Games, where he placed joint-71st in the downhill (alongside Ciril Praček of Yugoslavia). His next stop was the 1951 Winter World University Games, where he won a gold medal. He then attended the 1952 Oslo Olympics, this time competing in all three events, and had a best finish of joint-35th in the downhill (with France’s Guy de Huertas). That same year, however, he won the European Cup in alpine skiing and he later captured three gold medals at the 1958 European University Championships. Following his retirement from active competition, he served as vice-president of the Romanian Ski Federation for over a decade and a half, spent 25 years as a member of the International Ski Federation, and also served as a member of the Romanian Olympic Committee. By career he was a writer and a television commentator, covering six editions of the Winter Olympics. His son, Mihai Bîră, Jr., represented Romania in two alpine skiing events at the 1984 Sarajevo Games.
Romania