Romania has already exceeded its target of four medals but its biggest triumph has been hosting at all with 46 days' notice, a speed record for staging an international weightlifting competition of this size and stature.

The Championships are being televised in more than 100 countries, another phenomenal achievement given the time in which broadcasters had to prepare.

This evening and on Tuesday (March 27) viewers who know their sport may have recognised the women presenting the medals at the podium ceremony.

Toma's 63kg gold was presented by Georgeta Damian, winner of five rowing gold medals at the Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

On Tuesday the VIP was Gabi Szabo - at the venue she and Damian helped to create here by winning gold in athletics and rowing at the Sydney Games.

Szabo, a triple world champion, and Damian each won two of Romania's 26 medals in Sydney, a tally so impressive it prompted the state to build the "Sydney 2000" multi-sport Olympic complex here at Izvorani, 30 kilometres from Bucharest.

Other podium ceremony VIPs this week include Doina Melinte, 800 metres gold medallist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Octavian Morariu, a current International Olympic Committee member, a former rugby international and President of Rugby Europe, Sports Minister Ioana Brann, former Olympic oarsman Gheorghe Boroi, general secretary of the Romanian Olympic Committee, and weightlifting's very own Nicu Vlad, the 1984 Olympic champion who is President of the Romanian Weightlifting Federation (RWF).

This very visible support from the Romanian sporting establishment, with financial help from the Sports Ministry and Olympic Committee, has been crucial in helping the RWF to organise the Championships.

"We are always proud to host international competitions in Romania, not just to promote the country but also to encourage young people to participate in sport," said Szabo, who was Sports Minister for two years from 2014.

The European Weightlifting Federation's (EWF) flagship event has been running since 1896, the year the modern Olympics started.

Never in all that time has there been a Championships to match 2018 in terms of challenges.

First, the original host nation, Turkey, had to withdraw because of a one-year suspension imposed last October by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) for Olympic doping offences.

Sweden was keen to take over and the EWF paid a visit, but finding the money to pay for television coverage was impossible at short notice.

Next, the EWF awarded the Championships to Tirana - only for the Albanians to withdraw as hosts in January when their National Federation's leaders resigned because of a doping positive.

Georgia was a possibility, but as next year's European Championships are in Batumi, it was seen as too much of a challenge.

So Romania - which had offered before Albania was awarded the Championships - stepped in.

There were 46 days until the start of competition, but even less time in reality because planning could not start until the Romanian Government signed a decree giving the RWF permission to operate without being hindered by time-consuming contract laws.

"Romania had to work very fast," said Hasan Akkus, general secretary of the EWF who thanked and praised the hosts at the Opening Ceremony.

The United States took over from Iran at six months' notice for the IWF World Championships in 1978, when there were fewer athletes, no women, and plenty of time to make the television arrangements.

Then, said Akkus, there was the 2001 IWF World Championships, when Nepal was dropped as a host for security reasons and Antalya, Turkey, took over at six months' notice.

"Six months? We had six weeks," said Alex Padure, secretary general of the RWF who has worked wonders for the Championships to go ahead as planned.

Less than seven weeks before the start he had no venue, no accommodation, no sponsors, no transport, no technical team, no equipment provider - but plenty of encouragement.

"A lot of other European federations contacted us to say 'please make it work' because they had invested so much time and money in preparing their athletes for these Championships," said Padure.

Our planned 30-minute conversation in the competition hall, before action started, took more than an hour because he was interrupted nine times by technicians and television engineers working on improvements, and five telephone calls.

He has been as busy as this for all those six weeks, dealing with legal problems, looking for a broadcast company to help with Eurosport's coverage, organising hotels near the venue, calling on help from other sports federations, finding sponsors and volunteers and a host of other challenges.

The key sponsorship came from Rompetrol, the fuel company owned by a Kazakh energy firm whose chief executive is Zhanat Tussupbekov, who sits alongside Vlad on the IWF board.

"There were times when I thought it might not happen," said Padure, who highlighted Rompetrol's backing, and the support of Romanian sport generally, as the key factors.

"But we started on time, and on the very first day there was good feedback. 

"I am so proud that we have been able to do it, especially as this is the centenary year of the Great Union (the creation of the modern state of Romania)."

The EWF helped, said Akkus, with a range of payments and pledges, but the RWF had to find the money for television coverage, which was by far their biggest and most expensive challenge.

"It has been a monumental effort for this to happen in such a short space of time," said David Goldstrom, the EWF's director of television. 

Goldstrom, who is also a Eurosport commentator, was behind the microphone for world champion Toma's easy victory from her team-mate Irina Lepsa and the ecstatic Finn Anni Anni Vuohijoki, who screamed with delight when she knew she had a medal.

Toma, who won her first European senior title last year, totalled 236kg, with Lepsa on 219kg and Vuohijoki on 203kg.

Perhaps they should add on another podium ceremony at the end of the week, because as far as European weightlifting is concerned, Alex Padure and his team deserve a medal.