Romanian Olympic legend Iolanda Balas dies at age 79

Iolanda Balas-Soter, the first Olympic champion in the history of Romanian athletics, died on Friday, March 11, at age 79. Iolanda Balas was the best woman high-jumper in the world in the late 1950s and 1960s when she won two Olympic gold medals, at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. In a period of ten years, she dominated the women’s high jump winning 140 consecutive competitions and setting up 14 world records. She was the first woman to high-jump 6 feet (1.83 meters) and her world record was only beaten in 1971, some five years after she retired from competitions due to an injury, as athletes started using more efficient jumping techniques. She was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame in 2012. editor@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Federatia Romana de Atletism)