Iulian Ciobanu Iulian Ciobanu

Iulian Ciobanu teamed with Alison Levine at the 2022 world championships to win the bronze medal in the BC4 pairs event.

He completed a successful 2023 season with gold in BC4 pairs with Levine at the Parapan American Games to secure a spot for Canada in the event at the 2024 Paralympics.

The duo ended 2023 ranked number-one in the world in the event and are third as of July 2024. Ciobanu added a bronze in the individual event at the Games in Santiago. He is ranked eighth in the world individually in men’s BC4 as of July 2024.

In their last competition before the Paralympic Games in 2024, Levine and Ciobanu won the gold medal in pairs at a World Cup in Portugal in July.

At Tokyo 2020, despite winning two of his three matches in the BC4 mixed individual preliminary round, Ciobanu did not advance to the playoffs, his second career appearance at the Paralympic Games. He was also part of Canada’s mixed BC4 pair. trio.

Ciobanu burst onto the boccia scene in 2015, making his first national squad just one year after taking up the sport.

Ciobanu played a key role in the BC4 pair’s gold medal performance at the 2015 Americas Team Pair Championships in Montreal. His calm exterior and poise on court have made him a strong member of the squad.

In 2019, he won the bronze medal in pairs at the Parapan American Games with Alison Levine and Marco Dispaltro. In singles, he lost the bronze medal match by two points for fourth place.

He is known for taking risks and using clever shots to beat his opponents including an assortment of ricochets, lobs, pushes, roll up and overs, and displacements.

Ciobanu discovered boccia after participating in a demonstration in 2014 at a conference hosted by Muscular Dystrophy Canada in Montreal. Before coming to Canada, he did not know that there was a sport available for individuals with Muscular Dystrophy.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2020 and 2016 Paralympic Games… 2018 and 2022 world championships… 2019, 2023 Parapan American Games…

PERSONAL

Ciobanu is a husband to his wife Corina and a proud father of two girls… Moved from Moldova with his family to Canada in 2010… Has a degree in psychology from Moldovia State University…

NOTABLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS

• 2023 Parapan American Games – Pairs BC 4 – Gold
• 2023 Parapan American Games – Individual BC 4 – Bronze
• 2022 World Championships – Pairs BC 4 – Bronze
• 2022 World Championships – Individual BC4 – eliminated in preliminaries
• 2021 Paralympic Games – Pairs BC4 – eliminated in preliminary round
• 2021 Paralympic Games – Individual BC4 – eliminated in preliminary round
• 2019 BISFed Povoa World Open – Pairs BC4 – Gold
• 2019 Parapan American Games – Pairs BC4 – 3rd
• 2018 World Championships – Pairs BC4 – 6th
• 2016 Paralympic Games – Pairs BC4 – 6th
• 2016 BISFed, Boccia World Open in Montreal, QC – Pairs BC4 – Silver
• 2015 Boccia Americas Team and Pairs Championships – Pairs BC4 – Gold