Gheorghe Huma

Gheorghe Huma (19 March 1941 – 7 December 2004) was a Romanian bodybuilder, coach and fitness instructor who made a significant impact on the country's fitness and bodybuilding scene. He was known for his dedication to training, using medium to heavy weights and working out seven days a week. His serious, focused approach to bodybuilding was reflected in his disciplined routine, and he trained many future athletes who went on to achieve success in the sport.
==Early life==
Active since early youth in a range of sports such as soccer, handball, Greco-Roman wrestling, judo and weightlifting, Gheorghe Huma started practicing bodybuilding in 1968, aged 27, already possessing a good physique for the sport. 
==Career==
Gheorghe Huma won in the heavy weight category at every Romanian national championship between 1972 and 1981, along with numerous other trophees. 
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Huma was the first Romanian bodybuilder to compete on an international level, at a time when there was little support, and no federation for bodybuildingThe first bodybuilding national championships in Romania took place in 1966 as a side-event to the national weightlifting championship, a trend which continued long after the Romanian Weightlifting Federation changed its name to Romanian Federation for Weightlifting and Bodybuilding in 1970, a main reason being that bodybuilding, not being an olympic sport, did not receive the state support other sports did, in that highly ideological cold war era. Another reason was the fact that for much of the communist era bodybuilding was seen by the authorities with the same kind of suspicion as sports like karate and other martial arts, or practices like yoga or rock music. It barely maintained an official status until the change of government in 1989.</ref> in the Socialist Republic of Romania, where the leading ideology considered the sport "cosmopolitan, formal and exhibitionistic, lacking in instructional-educational functions and serving no other purpose than itself"
Huma participated in the 1979 IFBB European championships in Bruges, Belgium (8th place) and again, in the 1981 European championships, which took place at the Wembley Arena in London, where he arrived 7th. 
. In both instances Huma organized his own participation at a time when travel from Romania to a western country was near impossible, and defection common.
On return from London, Huma defected, asking political asylum in West Germany, settling in Munich for the next five years, finally able to train using state of the art equipment and nutrition, and competing locally, until he immigrated again to the United States, where he became naturalized, while keeping his Romanian citizenship. In 2001 he returned to Romania. 
==Legacy==
Referred to as the "Stejarul din Dumbrava Sibiului" (The Oak from Dumbrava Sibiului), Huma left a lasting legacy, particularly in Sibiu, where he was a prominent figure in the local sports community. His influence extended beyond his own achievements, as he inspired a new generation of bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts, and by his presence, during the decade in which he competed, was instrumental in popularising the sport from semi-clandestine side events to weight-lifting contests to full house events in major venues (eg. The Dacia trophy in Oradea, 1981 won by Huma short before his departure from Romania.), his name having "become synonymous with bodybuilding itself". His students and colleagues remembered him for his humor and kindness, but also for his serious and intense commitment to training. 
Category:1941 births
Category:2004 deaths
Category:Romanian bodybuilders
Category:Romanian people
Category:Exercise instructors