Mariana Chirilă

Mariana Chirilă

Personal information
Born	(1964-09-07) 7 September 1964
Sport
Country	Romania
Sport	Athletics
Retired	2001
Achievements and titles
National finals	4 cross country titles
Highest world ranking	8th in 3000 m (1986)
Personal best	3000 m: 8:38.83 (1986)
Medal record Goodwill Games 1986 Moscow 3000 m World Cross Country Championships 1985 Lisbon Team 1996 Stellenbosch Team European Cross Country Championships 1994 Alnwick Team 1997 Oeiras Team

Mariana Chirilă (née Stănescu; born 7 September 1964) is a Romanian female distance runner who competed in events ranging from 800 metres to the marathon. Individually she won gold medals in the 3000 metres at the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1992 Balkan Athletics Championships, and won the senior race at the Balkan Cross Country Championships in 1985. She represented her country at the European Athletics Championships in 1986, twice at the Universiade (1987 and 1991), and twice at the IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships (1984 and 1990). Her highest global ranking was eighth in the 3000 m for the 1986 season.

Chirilă had most of her success with Romanian women's teams at international events in cross country and road running. She was a seven-time participant at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships from 1985 to 1997, including team bronze medals in 1985 (alongside Fița Lovin, Elena Fidatov, and Olympic champion Paula Ivan) and 1996 (alongside Gabriela Szabo, Fidatov and Iulia Olteanu). She ran three times at the European Cross Country Championships and scored points to bring Romania to the team title with Fidatov and Margareta Keszeg in 1994, as well as a team silver with Fidatov and Stela Olteanu in 1997. She had much success at the Balkan Cross Country Championships, taking the individual gold in 1985, silver in 1986, 1987 and 1994, as well as perfect-score team titles in all those years with runners including Fidatov, Ivan and Luminita Gogirlea.

In road running, Chirilă competed many times for Romania in ekiden marathon relays. She won minor team medals at three consecutive editions of the IAAF World Road Relay Championships from 1994 to 1998, sharing the honours with Daniela Petrescu, Alina Gherasim, Anuța Cătună, Florina Pană and Olympic champion Constantina Diță among others. Other outings in the marathon relay resulted in victories at the International Chiba Ekiden and Barcelona Ekiden in 1990 and second place finishes twice at both the Yokohama International Women's Ekiden and Beijing International Women's Ekiden.

At national level, she was a four-time winner at the Romanian Cross Country Championships, winning three straight titles from 1985 to 1987 and a final win in 1994. At the Romanian Athletics Championships, she was runner-up over 10,000 metres in 1985 and over 3000 m in 1994. She also had top three finishes in the 3000 m at the 1986 Romanian Indoor Athletics Championships and at the 2001 Romanian Half Marathon Championships. On the professional circuit she won at the 1997 Le Lion Half Marathon and 1998 Belfast International Cross Country. She ran at the Debno Marathon in 1990 but did not take on the distance for a second time, after finishing in eighth in 2:52:51 hours.

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
1984	World Women's Road Race Championships	Madrid, Spain	48th	10K	38:28
1985	Balkan Cross Country Championships		1st	Senior race	13:20.7
			1st	Team	6 pts
	World Cross Country Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	48th	Senior race	16:16
			3rd	Team	96 pts
1986	Balkan Cross Country Championships		2nd	Senior race	13:51.1
			1st	Team	6 pts
	World Cross Country Championships	Colombier, Switzerland	31st	Senior race	15:40.3
			8th	Team	140 pts
	Goodwill Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	1st	3000 m	8:38.83
			10th	5000 m	15:45.10
	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	9th (heats)	3000 m	9:02:57
1987	Balkan Cross Country Championships		2nd	Senior race	12:35.7
			1st	Team	6 pts
	World Cross Country Championships	Warsaw, Poland	6th	Senior race	17:04
			4th	Team	94 pts
	Universiade	Zagreb, Yugoslavia	8th	3000 m	9:13.07
1990	World Cross Country Championships	Aix-les-Bains, France	80th	Senior race	20:50
			4th	Team	102 pts
	World Women's Road Race Championships	Dublin, Ireland	46th	15K	53:39.1
	International Chiba Ekiden	Chiba, Japan	3rd	5K	16:29
			1st	Team
	Barcelona Ekiden	Barcelona, Spain	6th	5.3K	19:00
			1st	Team
1991	World Cross Country Championships	Antwerp, Belgium	86th	Senior race	22:14
			7th	Team	148 pts
	Universiade	Sheffield, United Kingdom	13th	10,000 m	34:06.01
	Yokohama International Women's Ekiden	Yokohama, Japan	6th	10K	33:25
			2nd	Marathon relay	2:18:12
1992	Balkan Championships	Sofia, Bulgaria	1st	3000 m	9:17.92
1994	Balkan Cross Country Championships		2nd	Senior race	12:44.4
			1st	Team	6 pts
	World Road Relay Championships	Litochoro, Greece	2nd	5K	16:02
			3rd	Marathon relay	2:19:18
	European Cross Country Championships	Alnwick, United Kingdom	7th	Senior race	14:48
			1st	Team	26 pts
1995	Yokohama International Women's Ekiden	Yokohama, Japan	8th	10K	34:02
			?	Marathon relay
	Beijing International Women's Ekiden	Beijing, China	5th	5K	16:30
			2nd	Marathon relay	2:17:10
	International Chiba Ekiden	Chiba, Japan	3rd	7K	23:40
			3rd	Marathon relay	2:20:26
	European Cross Country Championships	Alnwick, United Kingdom	25th	Senior race	14:38
			2nd	Team	23 pts
1996	Yokohama International Women's Ekiden	Yokohama, Japan	2nd	7.2K	23:06
			2nd	Marathon relay	2:16:35
	Beijing International Women's Ekiden	Beijing, China	2nd	10K	33:50
			2nd	Marathon relay
	World Cross Country Championships	Stellenbosch, South Africa	32nd	Senior race	21:26
			3rd	Team	70 pts
	World Road Relay Championships	Copenhagen, Denmark	5th	10K	33:21
			2nd	Marathon relay	2:18:41
	International Chiba Ekiden	Chiba, Japan	6th	10K	32:33
			3rd	Marathon relay	2:17:48
1997	World Cross Country Championships	Turin, Italy	32nd	Senior race	22:25
			11th	Team	189 pts
	European Cross Country Championships	Oeiras, Portugal	5th	Senior race	18:10
			2nd	Team	22 pts
1998	World Road Relay Championships	Manaus, Brazil	3rd	5K	17:15
			3rd	Team	2:24:13

National titles

• Romanian Cross Country Championships: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1994

Circuit wins

• Cross Internacional del Calzado: 1997
• Le Lion Half Marathon: 1997
• Antrim International Cross Country: 1998

Personal bests

• 800 metres – 2:00.49 (1986)
• 1500 metres – 4:06.67 (1987)
• Mile run – 4:25.52 (1986)
• 3000 metres – 8:38.83 (1986)
• 5000 metres – 15:41.36 (1986)
• Half marathon – 1:12:36 (1997)
• Marathon – 2:52:51 (1990)

External links

• Mariana Chirilă at World Athletics