Vintilă Cristescu

Prior to World War I Vintilă Cristescu played football for Colțea București in Romania’s Divizia A league. In 1920 Cristescu and two of his teammates founded another football club, CS Colțea Brașov, and went on to win the 1927–28 national championship. During this time he also became an accomplished long-distance runner, winning the first marathon race to be staged in Romania in 1921. Cristescu won four more national marathon titles (1923, 1925–27) and was selected to run in the event at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, but did not finish the race. He later became a colonel in the Romanian Army and fought in World War II.

Personal Best: Mar – 2-49:39 (1927).