Ion Marin was the strongest man in Oradea County for three years in a row. He is unrivalled in the "iron man" competitions at this weight category. However, since brawn and brain can sometimes co-exist, Ion Marin is also a skilled businessman. He started his chain store business from zero, as he came to Oradea carrying his earthly possessions in a single bag.
Ion Marin was born in 1962 in Constanta and came to work in Oradea when he was 20. He bought a book about bodybuilding, a rare work at that time, when the state favoured other sports.
"When I realised how beautifully the human body can be moulded, I decided that this was the sport I would practice. I had previously abandoned boxing, as I had got the hepatitis and I was looking for an appropriate sport. I couldn't find anything better."
After six months of training at Oradea-based Trade Union Culture Hall, he went to the first body building competition and got unexpected results. "Everybody asked me where I had been training. I think it was really encouraging." However, Ion gave up body building five years later.
"I argued with the coach. I couldn't go to a competition and he blamed me for having undermined the team." Though he has never actually abandoned the sport, he returned to bodybuilding after seven years, when he also started his business in 1994.
"The bodybuilding facility from the Sports Hall was not properly equipped. So I decided to sponsor it with some equipment. The boys suggested me to rent the hall and this was how it all began."
Ion Marin is now the president of GYM Mar Strong Sports Association, the owner of one of the best-equipped sports complexes in the county and the manager of the body building complex.
"I have invested here all my profits derived from the store business," Marin says. He built a new wing next to the old food store. The complex now has bodybuilding, fitness, aerobics, sauna and massage rooms, a Jacuzzi and beauty salons. "We intend it to be a genuine health plant," the owner says.
Though Ion Marin is a Law Faculty graduate, he is dedicated to business and sports. Besides the title of the strongest man in the county, he became the national bodybuilding vice-champion last year. He changes from a sportsman to a businessman in less than five minutes.
After he strips his business outfit, Ion Marin puts on his coaching equipment and looks like a completely different person, commenting that "sports helped me to overcome the most difficult moments in my life. There is nothing that can inspire you more self-confidence than sports."
Almost four years were needed in order to make the body building hall profitable. Ion says the number of Romanian sports fans increases slowly.
"You may not believe it, but 40% of our subscribers are foreigners, while 20-30% are Romanians who lived abroad for some time. Unfortunately, Romanians do not have a sports culture. They either eat, or drink, or do nothing."
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