HER STORY

At age 6, little Daniela Silivas asked her parents if she could start gymnastics, after watching Nadia Comaneci on television. Thus she began her illustrous gymnastics career, starting in her Deva hometown school under the guidance of Ioan Carpinisan.

Silivas had destiny to fulfil. In 1979, a photograph of Comaneci appeared in a Bucharest newspaper, showing a little gymnast in the background. The caption read: "Will that little girl be the next Nadia?" It was Silivas of course, and she too had been a protegee of Bela Karolyi. "She was a quick, tiny little kid, six or seven years old when I found her," he said. "She wasn’t at first flexible but she was capable of working several hours a day without any sign of fatigue."

Gymn Photography (c) Debbie Poe

In 1980, she won her first competition, the school championships. Within a few years she was the Romanian junior champion.

International success beckoned. In 1983 she won her first junior title in Tokyo. In 1984 she was placed fourth at the Junior Europeans with a gold on the beam. In 1985, she managed to place third in the all-around in the American Cup, and caught the eyes of many despite homeground support for the reigning American Olympic champion. The 1985 Europeans saw her win two bronzes. In the Montreal World Championships, she really established herself by winning the beam gold with a perfect 10.0. In 1986 Worlds, she bags the silver behind Elena Shushunova.

Nobody expected anyone to beat the Soviets on their own turf, but that was exactly what Daniela Silivas did in the 1987 Europeans. In Moscow, not only did Silivas win the All-Around, she also took home three golds and a silver in the event finals! It was a whitewash! A little Romanian has stood up to the Soviet jaggernaut and came up tops.

Romania was on a roll. For the first time since 1979, Romania beat the Soviet Union for the team gold. Although the favourite, Silivas ended up third in the AA. Teammate Aurelia Dobre captured the limelight this time round. Still Silivas pulled off the typical Romanian stunt of coming back with a vengeance in the event finals, bagging two golds.

Picture on the right shows Daniela doing the beam mount named the "Silivas" after her. She was the first person to do it in international competition. Gymn Photography (c) Debbie Poe

As the Olympics neared, many were hailing Silivas as perhaps the best all-rounder in the world. She has, including an astonishing floor move (double-twisting, double back-somersault), perhaps the most difficult repertoire in the girls’ game, all of it secured by remarkable balance. "I’ve been shooting her for five or six years," said Eileen Langsley, the sport’s most eminent photographer. "I’ve never seen her fall off the beam."

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