Ana Maria Popescu
- January 5, 2024
- Fencer
Quick Facts
Ana Maria Popescu Biography
| Name | Ana Maria Popescu |
| Birthday | Nov 26 |
| Birth Year | 1984 |
| Place Of Birth | Bucharest |
| Birth Country | Romania |
| Birth Sign | Capricorn |
| Spouse | Pavel Popescu (m. 2015) |
Ana Maria Popescu is one of the most popular and richest Fencer who was born on November 26, 1984 in Bucharest, Romania. Brânză was born in 1984 in the Rahova district of Bucharest, the second of two children. A very energetic child, she was pushed by her parents towards sport. She first tried tennis because the courts were not far from home, but she left after one year because she was the only left-handed player and because of the lack of competitive events. When she was ten, her elder brother Marius, who played football for a school team of CSA Steaua București, took her to his club’s fencing hall in Ghencea. She did not care much for the idea at first, as she was not a fan of The Three Musketeers, but she was attracted to the sport as soon as she set foot in the fencing hall. She turned to épée because there was no other left-handed weapon available in the club when she began training.
Having reached the top quickly, she lost her previous fearlessness and began to feel apprehensive before her bouts: “When you get on the piste, it looks to you like your opponent is out to steal your dreams.” She struggled throughout the 2002–03 season, managing only a quarter-finals finish in Prague. A double gold medal haul at the Junior European Fencing in Porec helped her overcome the hurdle. That season saw also the first apparition of the Romanian women’s épée team in senior competitions, namely the 2003 World Fencing Championships, where they finished 8th.
In the 2004–05 season she reached her first podium in the Fencing World Cup with a silver medal at the Budapest Grand Prix. This result, along with a quarter-final place at the 2005 World Championships in Leipzig, where she lost to Estonia’s Maarika Võsu, allowed her to close the season in the Top 10 for the first time in her career. The next season she won her first World Cup title in Budapest and posted four top-eight finishes. At the European Championships in İzmir she was defeated in the second round by teammate Iuliana Măceșeanu. In the team event Romania prevailed 45–43 over Russia and met Hungary in the final. Brânză defeated Tímea Nagy in the last leg, allowing Romania to edge out a 33–32 win. This victory over a double Olympic champion encouraged her to think she could become a champion in her own right. She reached the quarter-finals again at the 2006 World Championships in Turin, but yielded to Nagy this time.
In April 2004 she won the Junior World Championships again after defeating Bianca Del Carretto 15–14 in the final. She reached the quarter-finals in the senior European Championships in Copenhagen. She qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics by earning a silver medal at the zonal qualifying tournament in Ghent, seeing off top-seed Sophie Lamon of Switzerland in the table of 16, but losing in the final to Sonja Tol of the Netherlands. For her Olympic début in Athens Brânză managed to beat experienced fencer Adrienn Hormay of Hungary, but stumbled in the table of 16 against China’s Zhang Li and finished 16th. She later explained she felt overwhelmed by the Olympic experience and like a child lost amongst big-name athletes.
She joined in 2001 one of the main Romanian sport clubs, CSA Steaua, which is run by the Ministry of National Defence of Romania, and received the grade of sergeant. She is however under no military obligation and is seconded full- time to her sport. Being from a military family–her grandfather, father and brother served in the army–, she regularly appears in uniform in the media. She was promoted to lieutenant after her studies, and as of 2015 holds the grade of major.
Ana Maria Popescu Net Worth
| Net Worth | $5 Million |
| Source Of Income | Fencer |
| House | Living in own house. |
Ana Maria Popescu is one of the richest Fencer from Romania. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Ana Maria Popescu 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)
Ana Maria Popescu, formerly known as Ana Maria Brânză (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈana maˈri.a ˈbrɨnzə] , born 26 November 1984), is a Romanian épée fencer that is ranked world no.1 according to FIE. She earned the silver medal in the individual épée event at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and the gold medal in the 2013 European Fencing Championships. She won the women’s épée World Cup series a record-equalling three times (2007–08, 2008–09, and 2012–13), with thirteen World Cup titles to her name. With the Romanian team she was twice World champion (2010 and 2011) and six-times European champion (2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2015).
She joined in 2001 the fencing section of CSA Steaua under coach Cornel Milan. The same year she posted her first significant result with a gold medal at the Cadet World Championships and a team silver medal at the Junior World Championships, both in Gdańsk. These achievements prompted the Romanian media to compare her to Olympic foil champion Laura Badea-Cârlescu, but she took exception to the comparison, claiming she wanted to do better than Badea.
In 2002 Brânză won the gold medal at the Junior World Championships in Antalya after prevailing over China’s Tan Li. She was praised for “a remarkable tactical mastery for a seventeen and a half year old girl”. The same year she took part in her first senior major competitions. At the European Championships in Moscow she reached the quarter-finals before being eliminated 9–15 by Lyubov Shutova. At the World Championships in Lisbon she made it to the semi-finals, where she was defeated 6–15 by Germany’s Imke Duplitzer and came away with a bronze medal. She would later call it her fondest victory, because she was very young at the time and was there without her coach, with only her sabre colleagues as companions.
Height, Weight & Body Measurements
| Height | 5′ 9″ |
Ana Maria Popescu height 5′ 9″ Ana weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.
Who is Ana Maria Popescu Dating?
According to our records, Ana Maria Popescu married to Pavel Popescu (m. 2015). As of December 1, 2023, Ana Maria Popescu’s is not dating anyone.
Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Ana Maria Popescu. You may help us to build the dating records for Ana Maria Popescu!
In the 2010 World Fencing Championships in Paris, Brânză was again eliminated early in the individual event, but won the first Romanian team gold in épée with Simona Gherman, Loredana Dinu and Anca Măroiu. Brânză contributed more than half the hits scored by Romania in the final against Germany. Her last relay against Imke Duplitzer, which she won 18–10, was described as “a real example of technique and tactical intelligence” in an otherwise “quite monotonous” match.
Facts & Trivia
Ana Ranked on the list of most popular Fencer. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Romania. Ana Maria Popescu celebrates birthday on November 26 of every year.
At the 2011 World Fencing Championships in Catania, Brânză was stopped in the semifinals by Sun Yujie of China and was doomed to a bronze medal, the second World Championships medal in her career. In the team event, the “Power Praf girls” saw off easily Great Britain then Poland, but Brânză was hit on her weapon hand during the quarter-finals against Poland and had to get medical attention. She fenced with a bandaged hand and only one relay in the semifinal against Germany, which Romania won with a tight score of 24–23. She was to be rested during the final against China, but was called eventually to replace a stressed out Măroiu. She lost her first relay 1–4 to Sun Yujie, but her 4–1 against Xu Anqi contributed to Romania’s sudden-death victory. Brânză was crowned team world champion for the second time in a row. For this performance she, Măroiu and Alexandru, as members of the military club CSA Steaua, received the emblem of honour of the Romanian Army (Romanian: emblema de onoare a Armatei României) and all members of the team received honorary citizenship of Craiova.