{"id":119521,"date":"2024-01-31T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devrri.freshlemon.ro\/news-and-current-affairs\/newsflash\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-119521.html"},"modified":"2024-02-19T10:37:12","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T08:37:12","slug":"radio-romania-international-sports-club-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html","title":{"rendered":"Radio Romania International Sports club"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world’s best athletes convene in the
\nOlympic Games every four years. The name Olympia is derived from the old Greek
\nsettlement known as Olympia, located in the Peloponnese peninsula. In Antiquity,
\nOlympia played host to the athletic competitions of the Hellenic world, for
\ncenturies.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Just like the
\nAntiquity competitions, the Olympics Games of the modern times created gods and
\nheroes, goddesses and heroines. Until the kick-start of the Olympic Games in Paris
\non July 26, we will focus on legends of the Romanian Olympic competitors in a monthly
\nslot, based on the Golden Archivers interviews that have been broadcast by
\nRadio Romania international, throughout the years. <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Today we pay tribute
\nto Romania’s greatest athlete, Iolanda Bala\u015f-S\u00f6ter. In 1999 she was the only
\nRomanian athlete to have received a nomination, from the International Athletics
\nfederation, for the 20 Century Athlete title. She was a two-time high-jump Olympic
\nchampion. She set 5 Olympic and 14 world records. Her records were unbreakable
\nfor 11 years. <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She took up training
\nin athletics with the Electrica Club in Timisoara, when she was 13. In less
\nthan a year from her debut, she broke the national juniors’ record. When she was
\n19, she succeeded her first notable feat as a senior athlete, the 2nd
\nplace at the European Championship In Berne, Switzerland. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here is Iolanda Bala\u015f-S\u00f6ter, in a radio show broadcast in April 2000:<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I have
\nalways compared myself to the world’s best athletes. At that time, at the top
\nwere the English athletes Sheila Lerwill and Thelma Hopkins, with European and
\nworld records, and of course I asked myself the following question: if they
\ncould, why couldn’t I ? And then, of course, the path I took to achieve my goal
\nbecame way more accessible, thanks to my strong resolve and the wish to accomplish
\nsomething serious and that’s what I succeeded and I have always thought, if I
\nwas assigned to represent Romania, I had to get a good result, ’cause that is
\nwhat I came there for. My first success occurred in Berne, in 1954. The 2nd
\nplace, unhoped for, but I was not satisfied with the 2nd place. I
\nsaid to myself: it can’t be! We need to aim higher; we need to jump higher! I’m
\nusing the plural because my husband,
\nIoan S\u00f6ter, was also in Berne, as an athlete, back
\nthen. Four years later, in 1958,
\nin Stockholm, I won the gold medal. It was my first success, my first gold
\nmedal in a European competition.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Prior
\nto the European Championships in Stockholm, on July 14, 1956, in Bucharest,
\nIolanda Balas set her first world record, with a jump of 1 meter 75 centimeters. \n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Iolanda Balas-Soter:<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Quite so, quite so…A performance that just gave
\nme a lot of tremendous hope for the Olympic Games of 1956, and everyone went
\nlike: that’s it, Iolanda will win the gold medal. Sadly, in Melbourne things didn’t
\ncome out the way I wanted. And that,
\nalso because my husband, having a brother in Australia, was officially denied
\nthe travel, being my coach, from that moment on. And we went and had a stay in Australia
\nfor three weeks, with no coach, with no moral and technical support and, while
\nI first ranked as favorite, I barely came in 5th. Imagine how
\nhard the blow was, for me, all the more so as the sports official of those
\nyears called me a traitor of my homeland, saying I sold the medal to the American
\nMildred McDaniel. It was the hardest blow I was dealt in my whole career as an
\nathlete, this defeat In the Olympic Games in Melbourne. I thought I would walk
\nhome with gold and, four years after Melbourne, in 1956, here’s what I wrote in
\nmy training notebook: I must have my comeback, I must have my comeback… And, using
\na coin, I drew the five Olympic circles and every day I said I had to make it
\nup for the flop I had in Melbourne, and I did it, in the long run, in Rome, in
\n1960. <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At
\nthe Olympic Games in Rome, Iolanda Bala\u015f again ranked as favourite…<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In Rome, it was something extraordinary, which means I was just about to
\ntravel there all alone, again, since my husband was still denied exit clearance
\nfrom Romania because, like I said, his brother was in Australia.
\nAnd some of the higher-ups of that time were dead positive we would stay in the
\nWest. Well, we had our trials and tribulations trying to go to the Central Committee
\nof Romanian Workers’ Party, we were even received in audience by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej,
\nthen the Secretary General of Romanian Workers’ Party, and I said that if Soter,
\nmy coach, didn’t come to accompany me in Rome, I would no longer represent
\nRomania. That was my wish so I could be successful there, lest I screw it like
\nI screwed it in Melbourne. And, at long last, for the first time in four good years,
\nS\u00f6ter got the passport and could leave for Rome. He accompanied me, I won the
\ngold medal setting a new Olympic record, 1 meter and 85 centimeters, an exceptional
\nresult at that time. In the morning we had the qualifiers, in the afternoon,
\nthe final, it was raining slowly, constantly. But…to cut a long story short, I
\nwon the gold medal. The satisfaction I had was fantastic, you can imagine. <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Then, in 1964, the Olympic
\nsuccess followed.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In Tokyo, I was dead set on yet again seizing the opportunity to prove, and
\nI succeeded, that the win in Rome did not occur by happenstance and I literally
\nrepeated that performance: the gold medal, I mean, also setting a new Olympic record, of
\n1 meter and 95 centimeters. <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Iolanda Bala\u015f-S\u00f6ter gained
\nher place in the book of world records thanks to her 140 consecutive wins. <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My last last defeat
\nwas in Melbourne, in 1956. Until 1967, nobody could break my records. Actually,
\nuntil I retired from competition.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

From 1991 to 2005, Iolanda Bala\u015f-S\u0151ter was the President of the Romanian Athletics Federation.
\nShe died on March 11, 2026, at the age of 79. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romanian Olympic legends: athlete Iolanda Balas-Soter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":577650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40940],"tags":[30081,42066,41666,116651,116650],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-119521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-athletics","tag-defeat","tag-high-jump","tag-resolve","tag-success"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRadio Romania International Sports club - Radio Romania International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Radio Romania International Sports club - Radio Romania International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Romanian Olympic legends: athlete Iolanda Balas-Soter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Radio Romania International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-31T11:45:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-19T08:37:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Florin Orban\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Florin Orban\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Florin Orban\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/69677d14c8796101e5d809074fc06fde\"},\"headline\":\"Radio Romania International Sports club\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-31T11:45:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-19T08:37:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html\"},\"wordCount\":1019,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png\",\"keywords\":[\"athletics\",\"defeat\",\"high-jump\",\"resolve\",\"success\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html\",\"name\":\"Radio Romania International Sports club - Radio Romania International\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-31T11:45:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-19T08:37:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/69677d14c8796101e5d809074fc06fde\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png\",\"width\":640,\"height\":399},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\\\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Homepage\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News and Current Affairs\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sport\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/news-and-current-affairs\\\/sport\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Radio Romania International Sports club\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/\",\"name\":\"Radio Romania International\",\"description\":\"Totul despre Rom\u00e2nia \u015fi rom\u00e2ni, \u00een 13 limbi\\\/dialecte!\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/69677d14c8796101e5d809074fc06fde\",\"name\":\"Florin Orban\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rri.ro\\\/en\\\/author\\\/florin-orban\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Radio Romania International Sports club - Radio Romania International","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Radio Romania International Sports club - Radio Romania International","og_description":"Romanian Olympic legends: athlete Iolanda Balas-Soter","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html","og_site_name":"Radio Romania International","article_published_time":"2024-01-31T11:45:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-19T08:37:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":399,"url":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Florin Orban","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Florin Orban","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html"},"author":{"name":"Florin Orban","@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/#\/schema\/person\/69677d14c8796101e5d809074fc06fde"},"headline":"Radio Romania International Sports club","datePublished":"2024-01-31T11:45:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-19T08:37:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html"},"wordCount":1019,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png","keywords":["athletics","defeat","high-jump","resolve","success"],"articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html","url":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html","name":"Radio Romania International Sports club - Radio Romania International","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png","datePublished":"2024-01-31T11:45:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-19T08:37:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/#\/schema\/person\/69677d14c8796101e5d809074fc06fde"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sport-iolanda-balas-tokyo-1964-foto-cosr.png","width":640,"height":399},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport\/radio-romania-international-sports-club-11-id119521.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Homepage","item":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News and Current Affairs","item":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sport","item":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/news-and-current-affairs\/sport"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Radio Romania International Sports club"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/","name":"Radio Romania International","description":"Totul despre Rom\u00e2nia \u015fi rom\u00e2ni, \u00een 13 limbi\/dialecte!","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/#\/schema\/person\/69677d14c8796101e5d809074fc06fde","name":"Florin Orban","url":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/author\/florin-orban"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119521"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rri.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=119521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}