View source for Iolanda Balaș

{{short description|Romanian high jumper}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|name           = Iolanda Balaș
|image          = Iolanda Balaș.jpg 
|caption        = Iolanda Balaș during the 1960s
|birth_date     = 12 December 1936
|birth_place    = [[Timișoara]], Romania
|death_date     = {{death date and age|2016|3|11|1936|12|12|df=yes}}
|death_place    = [[Bucharest]], Romania
|height         = 1.85 m
|weight         = 72 kg
|sport          = Athletics
|event          = High jump
|pb             = 1.91 m (1961)<ref name=sr/>
|show-medals    = yes
|medaltemplates =
{{MedalCountry | {{ROM}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1960 Summer Olympics|1960 Rome]]|[[Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump|High jump]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Tokyo]]|[[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump|High jump]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1958 European Athletics Championships|1958 Stockholm]]|High jump}}
{{MedalGold|[[1962 European Athletics Championships|1962 Belgrade]]|High jump}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1954 European Athletics Championships|1954 Bern]]|High jump}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Universiade]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1959 Summer Universiade|1959 Torino]] | High jump}}
{{MedalGold| [[1961 Summer Universiade|1961 Sofia]] | High jump}}
}}

'''Iolanda Balaș''' ({{IPA|ro|joˈlanda ˈbalaʃ}}, {{langx|hu|Balázs Jolán}}, later ''Balázs-Sőtér Jolán''; 12 December 1936 – 11 March 2016) was a Romanian athlete, an [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] champion and [[Women's high jump world record progression|former world record holder in the high jump]]. She was the first Romanian woman to win an Olympic gold medal and is considered to have been one of the greatest high jumpers of the twentieth century.

==Early life==
Balaș was born in [[Timișoara]] to an [[Hungarians in Romania|ethnic Hungarian]] family.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Obituary: Iolanda Balas, Romanian athlete|author=Davidson, Jack|work=[[The Scotsman]]|date=23 March 2016|access-date=10 October 2019|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-iolanda-balas-romanian-athlete-1-4080850}}</ref><ref name=index>Ághassi, Attila (18 November 2005) [https://index.hu/sport/2005/11/18/balazsjolan/ 'Sajnálom, hogy nem Magyarországnak nyertem olimpiákat']. index.hu: Én még az europoliszhoz hasonlító Temesváron születtem, 1936 decemberében. A szüleim, a rokonaim egytől-egyig magyarok, most is Magyarországon élnek. Nekem viszont nem adatott meg ez a lehetőség. "I was born in December 1936, in Timișoara which then still resembled an europolis town. My parents, my relatives are one by one Hungarians, they still live in Hungary. But I could not have this chance"</ref> Her mother, Etel Bozó was a homemaker, while her father, Frigyes, was originally a locksmith. Her father served in the Hungarian army until he was captured and brought to the Soviet Union and later back to Hungary, where he settled in Budapest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hocipo.hu/content/view/723_muranyi_andras_melysegek_es_magassagok|title=Mélységek és magasságok|trans-title=Depths and heights|publisher=Hócipő|date=6 June 2007|access-date=10 October 2019|language=hu}}</ref> Balaș tried to reunite the family and move to Hungary, but although she managed to obtain a Hungarian passport in 1947,<ref name=index/> she was not allowed to leave Romania.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.3szek.ro/load/cikk/34822/az_egyetemes_magyar_sport_nagyjai:_balazs_jolan|title=Az egyetemes magyar sport nagyjai: Balázs Jolán|trans-title=The greats of the universal Hungarian sport: Balázs Jolán|publisher=3szek.ro|date=6 December 2010|access-date=10 October 2019|language=hu}}</ref> When asked in an interview in 2005 whether she had ever thought about defection, she said that it had crossed her mind; however, as it could have resulted in serious retaliation against her relatives, she did not want to risk it.<ref name=index/> In the interview she said, "I feel sorry that I did not win Olympics for Hungary. But a person represents herself and after that a nation. It was not given for me to bear the Hungarian colors, to make happy those who speak my mother tongue. It evolved this way and I feel sorry for it, but I would have gone mad if I would thought constantly about this contradictory situation. I hope that besides Romanians also Hungarians are proud of me."<ref name=index/>

==Career==
[[File:Iolanda Balaș 1964b.jpg|thumb|left|Balaș at the [[1964 Summer Olympics]] in [[Tokyo]]]]
Balaș took up athletics owing to her caretaker Luisa Ernst, who was also a retired high jumper.<ref name=sr/> In 1953 she transferred from Timișoara club "Electrica" to CCA (CSA Steaua). After finishing fifth in the [[1956 Summer Olympics|1956 Melbourne Olympics]], she won Olympic [[gold medal]]s at [[1960 Summer Olympics|Rome in 1960]] (becoming the first Romanian woman to do so)<ref name=newz/> and [[1964 Summer Olympics|Tokyo in 1964]]. At the 1964 Olympics she competed with a torn tendon, which forced her later to withdraw from the 1966 European Championships. Nevertheless, between 1957 and 1966, Balaș won 154 consecutive competitions,<ref>"The Sport's Longest Winning Streak Gets Longer", ''Track & Field News'' (August 2016), p. 47.</ref> not including qualifying competitions or exhibitions. She improved the [[world record]] 14 times, from 1.75 m to 1.91 m, and equalled it once outdoors and once indoors. She was the first woman to jump over six feet. Her technique was a sophisticated version of the scissors technique.<ref name=sr>{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/iolanda-balas-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174022/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/iolanda-balas-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Iolanda Balaş|publisher=[[Sports Reference]]|access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref>

Balaș won two British [[WAAA Championships]] high jump titles at the [[1962 WAAA Championships]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001816/19620708/031/0031 |title=Golden girls serve up a record rush |work=Birmingham Weekly Mercury |date=8 July 1962 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=23 February 2025 }}</ref> and the [[1963 WAAA Championships]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=23 February 2025 }}</ref>

Her record of 1.91 m, set in 1961, lasted until the end of 1971 (beaten by [[Ilona Gusenbauer]] from Austria), when jumpers with a more efficient technique (the [[straddle technique]], and later the [[Fosbury Flop|Fosbury]] style) took over.<ref name=sr/>

[[File:Iolanda Balas with husband.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Balaș with her husband and coach [[Ioan Soter]]]]
After retiring from competition in 1967, Balaș married her former coach Ioan Söter,<ref>[https://www.click.ro/sport/alte-sporturi/ce-spunea-despre-boala-iolanda-balas-soter-inainte-de-muri Ce spunea despre boală Iolanda Balaș Söter înainte de a muri]. click.ro. Retrieved 10 October 2019.</ref> and taught physical education in Bucharest. Between 1988 and 2005 she was president of the Romanian Athletics Federation.<ref name=sr/> She was also a member of the technical committee of the [[European Athletics Association]], and in 1995 was elected to the women's commission of the [[International Association of Athletics Federations]] (IAAF).<ref name=cosr/>

==Death==
[[File:Iolanda Balaș 2004 Romanian stamp.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Balaș on 2004 Romanian stamps]]
Balaș was diagnosed with [[type II diabetes]] several years before her death and was hospitalized several times after that. She died following gastric complications at Elias Hospital in Bucharest, Romania, at the age of 79.<ref name=newz>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160311/sports/303119899/|title=Romanian high jumper Iolanda Balas dies at 79|agency=Associated Press|work=Daily Herald|date=11 March 2016|access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.iaaf.org/news/iaaf-news/iolanda-balas-obituary|date=11 March 2016|title=High jump legend Balas dies|publisher=[[International Association of Athletics Federations|IAAF]]|access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref> She is buried at [[Ghencea Cemetery]] in Bucharest.

==Awards==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Balas.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Balaș receiving a trophy in 2010 for special merits (TV capture)]] -->
Balaș was named an honorary citizen of Timișoara (in 1999) and of Bucharest (in 2001).<ref name=cosr>[http://www.cosr.ro/sportiv/iolanda-balas Iolanda Balas]. [[Romanian Olympic Committee]]</ref> In 2010, she received the royal decoration "Nihil Sine Deo" for special merits to the Romanian sports from [[Michael I of Romania]], in a ceremony held at the Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest, for the way she led the [[Romanian Athletics Federation]] and to promote Romanian excellence in sport and young athletes.<ref>[https://familiaregala.ro/conferinte/articol/in-memoriam-iolanda-balas "Ordine și decorații"]. ''familiaregala.ro''. Retrieved 10 October 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.mediafax.ro/life-inedit/iolanda-balas-ivan-patzaichin-si-cristian-topescu-au-primit-decoratia-regala-nihil-sine-deo-7215879 "Iolanda Balaş, Ivan Patzaichin şi Cristian Ţopescu au primit decoraţia regala "Nihil Sine Deo""]. ''mediafax.ro''. Retrieved 10 October 2019.</ref> In 2000, ''[[Track & Field News]]'' voted Balaș as the best female high jumper of the 20th century.<ref name=hof>{{cite web|url=https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/hall-of-fame/2012|title=Hall of Fame &ndash; 2012|publisher=[[International Association of Athletics Federations|IAAF]]|access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref> She was inducted into the [[IAAF Hall of Fame]] in 2012.<ref name=hof/>

==See also==
*[[Women's high jump world record progression]]
* {{portal-inline|Sport of athletics}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Olympics.com profile|iolanda-balas}}
*{{SR/Olympics profile|ba/iolanda-balas-1|Iolanda Balaș|archive=20160304082559}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160313021310/http://www.all-athletics.com/en-us/node/436582 Iolanda Balaș] at All-Athletics.com
*[https://www.nuts.org.uk/lists/Balas.pdf Iolanda Balas - 154 wins in a row] &mdash; Complete list of Balaș' record win-streak

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box|before=[[Thelma Hopkins (athlete)|Thelma Hopkins]]|title=[[World Record progression high jump women|Women's high jump world record holder]]|years=14 July 1956 – 1 December 1956 |after=[[Mildred McDaniel]]}}
{{succession box|before=[[Mildred McDaniel]]|title=[[World Record progression high jump women|Women's high jump world record holder]]|years=13 October 1957 – 17 November 1957|after=[[Zheng Fengrong]]}}
{{succession box|before=[[Zheng Fengrong]]|title=[[World Record progression high jump women|Women's high jump world record holder]]|years=7 June 1958 – 4 September 1971 |after=[[Ilona Gusenbauer]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions High Jump Women}}
{{Footer European Champions High Jump Women}}
{{Footer Universiade Champions High Jump Women}}
{{IAAF Hall of Fame}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's high jump}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balas, Iolanda}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Timișoara]]
[[Category:Romanian sportspeople of Hungarian descent]]
[[Category:Romanian female high jumpers]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for Romania]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Romania]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:European Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:World record setters in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:FISU World University Games gold medalists for Romania]]
[[Category:Burials at Ghencea Cemetery]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1959 Summer Universiade]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1961 Summer Universiade]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Romanian Athletics Federation]]
[[Category:Diabetes-related deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Romanian sportswomen]]