Dragoș Panaitescu-Rapan

During his career Romanian sportsman Dragoș Panaitescu-Rapan became a national champion in bobsleigh, cycling, and motorcycling. Panaitescu’s first love was cycling, which saw him win a national title in the velodrome in 1967. A fan of extreme sports, he then moved onto the ice, being part of the Romanian bobsleigh team for more than a decade. His career, however, was almost over before it began, after when he suffered an horrific injury at the 1970 World Championships. Panaitescu had crashed whilst competing, with his face being heavily cut on the ice. The injuries were so bad that doctors had to reconstruct his face based on previous photos, with Panaitescu spending four days in a coma.

Undeterred, Panaitescu returned to the ice for the 1972 Sapporo Olympics, competing in the two-man event with compatriot Dumitru Focșeneanu. The pair put in four consistent runs to place 12th overall. Four years later Panaitescu became the Romanian national champion in the two-man event, earning another place on the Olympic team as a result. At the Innsbruck Games he competed in both the two-man and four-man events, placing 12th and eighth, respectively. He competed at one more Olympics, again in both events at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

Panaitescu was hoping to compete at one more Olympics, but the Romanian team wanted him as their coach instead. A few years later the International Bobsleigh Federation made tighter restrictions to their uniform regulations, with Panaitescu becoming part of their technical commission, a role he went to work in for more than 30 years.

Shortly after his competitive bobsleigh days were over, Panaitescu turned to motorcycling for a brief period. He built himself a motorbike practically from scratch and went on to become the Romanian champion in the 500 cc class in both 1980 and 1981.