One of the most famous Romanian fencers was found shot in the house. The former world and European champion was only 41 years old

One of Romania’s best saber fencers, retired in 2012, was found dead on Monday, October 3, in his home in Otopeni.

Florin Zalomir, former fencer who brought Romania gold medals at the world, European and Olympic championships, is the Bucharest Gendarmerie employee found shot in his own home. A press release in this regard was issued by the public institution.

The 41-year-old man is said to have recently divorced, and investigators are considering the suicide option.

Who is Florin Zalomir, the gendarme who was found dead

Florin Gelu Zalomir was born on April 21, 1981, in Iasi.

He started fencing at the age of ten at CSS “Unirea” Iași, after coach Iulian Bitucă married his mother, becoming his stepfather, according to Wikipedia. He quickly enjoyed success, winning a bronze medal at the 1998 European Junior Championships in Bratislava and placing 5th at the World Cadet Championships the same year.

In 2000 he won the silver medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships in South Bend.

He joined the senior Olympic team the following year. He participated in the European Championship in Koblenz, placing 33rd in the individual and 8th in the team. A few months later he took part in the World Championship in Nîmes, where Romania won the bronze medal. After the competition he chose to stay in France and join the Foreign Legion, an elite unit of the French Army, because he was “fascinated by the army, the uniforms and military discipline”.

During his contract he was deployed to Afghanistan on a peacekeeping mission.

He returned to Romania and to performance sports after two and a half years under uniform. Being in good physical condition, he managed after only three months to rejoin the Olympic team, which also included compatriot Alexandru Sirițeanu. At the 2006 European Championships he reached the semi-finals, but stopped in front of the Russian Veniamin Reshetnikov and settled for bronze.

In the team event, Romania first passed Russia in the semi-final, then Hungary, winning the gold medal. In 2009 in Antalya, the team became the men’s saber world champion for the first time in the history of Romanian fencing, after defeating Italy in the final. During the meeting he was punched in the face by an Italian and lost two teeth.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Zalomir won the silver medal with the Romanian team, after losing the final to South Korea.

After the Olympic Games in England, Florin Zalomir retired and asked for a life annuity, because he could not live only on the salary from the club. He became a fencing coach at CS Dinamo Bucharest and the national team, alongside Mihai Covaliu and Dan Găureanu.

A few years ago, he joined the Gendarmerie.