Octavian Zidaru

Who is Octavian Zidaru?

Octavian Zidaru is a Romanian fencer and coach.

As a sportsman, he competed in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. He ranked only 26th in the individual épée event, but reached the semi-finals in the team event for Romania with Ioan Popa, Anton Pongratz, Costică Bărăgan, and Petru Kuki. The team was eventually defeated by Russia and missed the podium. He was awarded in 1982 the title of master emeritus in sports.

After his retirement as a fencer he became a coach at CSA Steaua București. He is now an international coach for the International Fencing Federation, member of the executive committee of the European Fencing Confederation and technical director of the Romanian Fencing Federation. After Dan Podeanu's resignation following the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, he became the coach of the Romanian women's épée team and lead them to a gold medal in the 2013 European Fencing Championships in Zagreb and a bronze medal in the 2013 World Fencing Championships in Budapest. In August 2013 he won the Romanian veteran championship in the over 60 category.