Ion Bîrlădeanu

Ion Bîrlǎdeanu (born 1 August 1958) is a retired Romanian sprint kayaker. He won a bronze medal in the K-1 1000 m event at the 1980 Olympics, placing sixth in the doubles. He also won seven medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with a gold (K-2 10000 m: 1979), five silvers (K-1 500 m: 1981, K-1 1000 m: 1979, 1981; K-2 500 m: 1978, K-4 1000 m: 1978), and one bronze (K-2 10000 m: 1981). Bîrlǎdeanu spent most of his career with Steaua București, and after retiring from competitions worked as a coach there. Later he trained the national junior and senior teams, and in 2005 became president of the Romanian Canoe and Kayak Federation.