Daniela Silivas won a medal in every event at the 1998 Olympics in Seoul, Korea.  She won gold on three events (bars, beam, floor) with her innovative gymnastics.  Her back-to-back tumbling pre-dated Dominique Dawes, and it was her mount on the balance beam that Dominique Moceanu made famous.  But it was Daniela’s silver medal in the all-around that seemed to define her career.   

Daniela was born in Deva, Romania on May 9, 1972.  She began gymnastics when she was six years old and was coached by Bela Karolyi for six months before he defected to the United States.  Daniela was Romania’s top junior, and in 1985 the Romanian Gymnastics Federation changed her birth year from 1972 to 1970 so she could compete in the senior ranks. 

Though she was actually just 13, she competed at the 1985 World Championships in Montreal, captivating the audience with her perfect 10.0 in the beam finals.  Daniela established herself as a firm favorite for the 1988 Olympic all-around gold at the 1987 European Championships in Moscow, where she won the all-around, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.  She placed second on vault.

In 1987, Daniela won world titles on bars and floor, as well as the all-around bronze.  She was also part of the historic Romanian team that won gold over the “unbeatable” Soviet team.

After helping Romania win a team silver medal at the 1988 Olympics, Daniela competed in the highly anticipated duel with Elena Shushunova for the all-around gold.  She scored perfect 10’s on bars and floor, while Shushunova scored 10’s on floor and vault.  In an all-around contest whose results continue to be debated today, Daniela lost the gold by 0.025.  Had the all-around been contested under the “New Life” rule, Daniela would have been the all-around champion.     

Daniela bounced back during the event finals, winning golds on bars, beam and floor and a bronze on vault.  In addition to winning six medals, she also scored a 10.0 on uneven bars on all four days of competition.

Daniela went to the 1989 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany with hopes of winning the elusive all-around title.  Unfortunately, she was hampered by a knee injury and finished 12th all-around after falling off balance beam.  Just as she did at the Olympics, Daniela came back during the event finals to win the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise titles.

Late in 1989, Daniela underwent knee surgery with the intent to return to training afterward.  However, the 1989 Romanian Revolution closed the National Training Center and forced Daniela to prematurely end her career.  She officially retired in 1991 and moved to Georgia. 

In 2002, Daniela admitted her age was falsified, and stated that no one in the Romanian Gymnastics Federation ever asked her for her opinion.  Age falsification was quite common in Communist countries such as Romania and the Soviet Union, so it is not surprising Daniela was not given a choice.  Even though the age falsification is against FIG rules, it is impressive that a 13-year-old won the world beam title in 1985!

Daniela and her husband Scott have two children.  She currently coaches gymnastics in Atlanta. 

Although Daniela does not have a world or Olympic world all-around title, she has nine other individual world and Olympic titles.  Her name appears in the Code of Points on beam and floor, and she is thought of as one of the premier gymnasts of the ‘80s.

Bio by: Splitleap