Sporting career

Pârvulescu took up wrestling at a very young age, with the Vulturii club in Lugoj. During his career he also represented Știința (Bucharest), Steagul Roșu (Braşov), and for the most part Steaua Bucharest.

He debuted internationally in East Berlin in 1951, where he finished second. His Olympic debut in 1952 was less successful (2 defeats, 9th place). He narrowly missed the podium in the world Championship in Naples in 1953, losing only to the world champion Ahmet Bilek; he also finished fourth at the 1956 Olympics. At the 1960 Olympics, Pârvulescu won the final against Ignazio Fabra in a close decision. Pârvulescu went on to win a silver at the 1961 World Championships and a bronze at the 1964 Olympics. Losing to Gheorghe Berceanu in the Romanian championship persuaded him to retire from the mat and become a coach.

Coaching career

Dumitru Pârvulescu coached for Steaua Bucharest and subsequently for L.C. Vulcan Bucharest. In addition, he was often commissioned by the Romanian wrestling Federation to select talented youngsters from various parts of the country. Pârvulescu was credited with coaching World champion and Olympic silver medalist Constantin Alexandru and with discovering a young talent who would become 1984 Olympic champion in the 100 kg category Vasile Andrei. He was also a mentor and confident of World and Olympic 48 kg champion Gheorghe Berceanu.

In 2000, Pârvulescu received the National “Faithful Service” Order, the highest civilian distinction in Romania.

References

External links

• http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/results/search_r_uk.asp 1960 Olympic medal winners in Greco-Roman wrestling (on the IOC website)
• https://web.archive.org/web/20080116044757/http://www.gov-sport.ro/unlimitpages.asp?id=767 Dumitru Pârvulescu obituary on the Romanian National Sports Agency website (ro icon)