Ion Basoc received the highest recognition from the Moldovan Paralympic Committee for the second year in a row // Photo: facebook.com .
Last year, the 28-year-old athlete won silver medals at the world and European judo championships among visually impaired athletes. The athlete’s highest achievement is winning a bronze medal at the XVII Summer Paralympic Games in Paris (France) in 2024.
The best of the best
The national para-judo team was recognized as the best at the end of last year, when it took third place in team competitions at the European Championship in Tbilisi (Georgia). The national team includes the Paralympic champion, PCM President Oleg Kretsul, Ion Basok, Nikolay Bondarev, Vadim Kretsu, Oleg Nemtsan and Alexandru Ursu and Alexandru Chebotari.
Among juniors the best were Victoria Rotaru, Semion Bondarenko and Vadim Kretsu. In 2025, Rotaru became a bronze medalist World Para Powerlifting Championship among athletes under 17 in Cairo (Egypt), and Kretu became the silver medalist of the European Paralympic Games among youth for the first time in the history of Moldovan Paralympians’ performance. Earlier this year, Bondarenco took third place at the German Para Judo Open tournament among athletes under 21.
Vitali Gligor (para judo) and Dumitru Prodan (para-paufflifting) were recognized as the best coaches. Awards for outstanding achievements were given to Inna Cernei, Oleg Kretsul and Oleg Nemtsan. Cernei became the only Moldovan representative at the European Para Judo Championship among women. Kretzul at the age of 50 became for the first time world champion in para-sambo, and also won a bronze medal at the continental championship in para-judo. Nemtsan won bronze at the World Para-Sambo Championship in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
