Stramaturaru didn’t like luge at first, now she can’t stop

Busteni (FIL/07 Oct 2024) It is quite often you hear when athletes talk about how they discovered their sport, whether it be intentionally or by chance, it’s a match made in heaven, a spark that ignites their intuition to carry on and perfect themselves in their newfound passion.

Take Alex Ferlazzo for example. Australia’s fourth ever luger was drawn into the sport right away after feeling the addictive adrenaline, that is regularly spoken about, down a track in Naseby, New Zealand.

Raluca Stramaturaru, currently one of the most experienced lugers on the international circuit, had a rather more strenuous start.

“You didn't have the visor to put on the face, so it was so cold, and I didn't enjoy it,” said Stramaturaru on her earliest memory of sliding. “It was not love at first sight. After the first run, I was saying that I didn’t want to do it.

“I thought maybe need to do something else, but the coach saw something in me, and he was saying that if I tried it more, maybe I will enjoy it… and here I am.”

The 38 year old has since gone on to represent Romania every year since her debut in 2001, and is heading into her 24th consecutive season as a senior.

But even before she slid down for that very first run, Stramaturaru could’ve had a very different sporting career.

She had the chance to join Steaua Bucuresti at junior level which is now one of the most prestigious football clubs in Romania, but due to the travelling football involved, decided to take up luge instead, much to her mother’s delight.

“My mum was not so happy. She was all the time saying ‘Oh, you need to do luge. It's better because you're home’, so I stayed with luge.

“I could stay more at home, but I think she didn't realise that now I’m staying more outside than then,” she chuckled.

Her pursuit in luge meant Stramaturaru became a key part of the Romanian team with its limited numbers at the time earlier than most at international level and competed regularly at senior level after making her senior World Cup in 2001 as a 16 year old.

Nine years later, Stramaturaru competed in her maiden Olympic Games in Whistler 2010, finishing 21st with a time of 2:50.072 in the women’s singles.

Fast forward to now and the Busteni resident is looking towards her fifth Games after Whistler, Sochi 2014, Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022.

“Every Olympics has its story,” said Stramaturaru when reflecting on her vast experience in winter sports most prestigious competition. “You are enjoying the first one, of course, but then after one, you are starting to understand what's going on and you are enjoying it more and more.

“I think the third one was about the results and everything because when you are on the top, you are thinking about the results.

“You cannot compare the Olympics with the World Cup or anything else,” she added.

Pyeongchang 2018, the “third one”, was her greatest return at an Olympic coming seventh overall, the best result for Romania in Winter Olympics since Lillehammer 1994 when Ioan Apostol and Liviu Cepoi clinched sixth in doubles.

Stramaturaru revealed she still gets goosebumps when talking about the feat but four years later, it was quite the opposite.

In Beijing, she crashed in the third run ending not only her singles campaign in China but her career.

“I think I could do better, but at that time, the training was not so good for me,” said Stramaturaru. “Even if the coaches were saying something to change, I couldn't do it, I don't know why. I couldn’t adapt.

“I was thinking that the only chance that I can do to improve my result after Pyeongchang was to only do the doubles because the World Cup in singles is very hard and the qualification for the Olympics is even harder.”

The Romanian now heads into her third full season as a doubles luger with partner Mihaela-Carmen Manolescu, hoping that her decision to prioritise doubles over singles brings the improved results she desperately craves.

Stramaturaru turns 39 in November and although many athletes may think about the ending of their career at this stage, the veteran luger refuses to let age affect her time in the sport. 

“I think when you have a bad competition, you think more about this, but for real, I didn't think of this,” she said. “This is what I want to do. I love to do this, so I think I will do it until I cannot do it anymore.

“I think it needs to be something big to stop me to do this.”

At first she refused the idea of luge, now Stramaturaru is willing to change disciplines to propel her longevity in the sport.

It is a U-turn like no other, and coming seventh in the World Championships earlier this year showed no signs of slowing down.

Stramaturaru may not win a gold medal in Milano-Cortina 2026 but her legacy of a potential six Games is something to be long admired at.