Learn Romanian: Atletul nostru este cel care a terminat cursa primul. - Our athlete is the one who finished the race first.

It creates a cleft sentence that adds contrastive focus. By using este cel care (is the one who), it strongly emphasizes that our athlete is the one who finished first, directly contrasting with other athletes who did not.

Does the word "cel" change if the subject is plural or feminine?

Yes, cel is a demonstrative pronoun and must agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to. If the subject were female (atleta noastră), it would be cea care. If they were masculine plural (atleții noștri), it would be cei care.

Why does the sentence use "primul" with a definite article instead of just the base word "prim"?

When an ordinal number like "first" or "second" is used after a verb to describe how the subject completed the action, Romanian requires it to have the definite article. Because atletul is masculine singular, we use the articulated form primul.

Why does the possessive "nostru" come after the noun, and why does the noun have an article?

In Romanian, possessive adjectives generally follow the noun. When they do, the noun must take a definite article at the end. That is why it is atletul nostru (literally "the athlete our") rather than just atlet nostru.