# Cătălina Axente

Cătălina Axente (born 31 October 1995) is a Romanian freestyle wrestler. She won one of the bronze medals in the 72 kg event at the 2020 European Wrestling Championships held in Rome, Italy. She also won one of the bronze medals in the 76 kg event at the 2023 European Wrestling Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia.

## Career

In 2018, Axente won a bronze medal in the 76 kg event at the European U23 Wrestling Championship held in Istanbul, Turkey. She defeated Francy Rädelt of Germany in her bronze medal match.
Axente represented Romania at the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus in the 76 kg where she lost her only match against Ayşegül Özbeğe. In 2020, she was eliminated in her first match in the women's 76 kg event at the Individual Wrestling World Cup held in Belgrade, Serbia.
In March 2021, Axente competed at the European Qualification Tournament in Budapest, Hungary hoping to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. In April 2021, she was eliminated in her first match in the 72 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships in Warsaw, Poland. In May 2021, Axente failed to qualify for the Olympics at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
In 2022, Axente competed in the 76 kg event at the Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey. She lost her bronze medal match in the 76 kg event at the 2022 European Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. A few months later, Axente also lost her bronze medal match in her event at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022 held in Rome, Italy. She competed in the 76 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia where she was eliminated in her second match.
Axente won one of the bronze medals in the 76 kg event at the 2023 European Wrestling Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia. She won the gold medal in her event at the 2023 Jeux de la Francophonie held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. In September 2023, Axente lost her bronze medal match in the women's 76 kg event at the World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. She also lost a separate Olympic qualification match against Milaimys Marín of Cuba and she did not qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
In 2024, she competed in the 76 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest, Romania where she was eliminated in her first match. Two months later, Axente competed at the 2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan hoping to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics. She was eliminated in her first match and she did not qualify for the Olympics at this event. A month later, Axente earned a quota place for Romania for the Olympics at the 2024 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey. She was injured in her first match in the women's 76 kg event at the Olympics, leaving her unable to continue in the competition.

## Achievements

| Year | Tournament | Location | Result | Event |
| 2017 | Jeux de la Francophonie | Abidjan, Ivory Coast | 3rd | Freestyle 75 kg |
| 2020 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 3rd | Freestyle 72 kg |
| 2023 | European Championships | Zagreb, Croatia | 3rd | Freestyle 76 kg |
| 2023 | Jeux de la Francophonie | Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo | 1st | Freestyle 76 kg |