Maria Cioncan

Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Romania
2004 Olympic Games
	Women's 1,500 metres	1500 m

Maria Cioncan (19 June 1977 – 21 January 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.

Life

Born in Maieru, she set personal bests in both 800 and 1500 metres during the games. Her 2005 season was cut short, and her only notable competition appearance was at 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 21 January 2007 Cioncan 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	Event	Notes
Representing  Romania
1999	European U23 Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	–	800 m	DNF
			7th	1500 m	4:14.00
2001	World Indoor Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	16th (h)	1500 m	4:17.47
2002	European Indoor Championships	Vienna, Austria	11th	3000 m	9:08.07
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	16th (h)	1500 m	4:14.52
	World Championships	Paris, France	9th (sf)	800 m	2:00.72
			9th	1500 m	4:02.80
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	7th	800 m	1:59.62
			3rd	1500 m	3:58.39
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	8th	800 m	2:04.55
			10th	1500 m	4:08.09
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	16th (h)	800 m	2:05.17

Personal bests

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