Since the times of the USSR, we remember Romanian Daniela Silivash as a talented girl, an outstanding gymnast, who won Olympic medals three times and became the world champion many times.
Daniela was born in the mysterious Transylvania in a small town called Virgo on May 9 in 1972, she is a citizen of Romania.
From childhood, she firmly knew that her destiny in life was gymnastics, and she had been doing it since she was 6 years old. Daniela Silivash was on her way to becoming the best.
Thirteen-year-old Daniela Silivash took part in the World Cup for the first time in 1985, and this was a violation of the protocol, since participants were allowed to participate at least 14 years old. It was even about faking documents. Nevertheless, the talented Daniela was put to replace the gymnast who had left due to an injury and did not fail - she became the best “log” on the projectile.
Strengthening Glory and Laurels - 1987
The very first successes came to her in 1987. The world championship in Rotterdam brought her 3 gold medals, as well as 4 “gold” she was able to take at the European championship in the capital of the USSR, and it was in Moscow that the talented athlete acquired the title of absolute champion, leaving behind all the Soviet titled gymnasts of that period.
The growing popularity of Daniela Silivash, the photo of which has already been circulated by all sports publications, added two more “gold” to the first place in the team and the third in the all-around in free-style competitions and on parallel bars.
1988 year
The finest hour for the girl was the 1988 Olympics, which were held in Korean Seoul. The struggle of Soviet and Romanian gymnasts flared up in earnest . In the team tournament, the “gold” went to the Soviet girls, and in the absolute championship, our main medal was won by our Elena Shushunova - she outstripped Daniela Silivash by some 0.025 points.
It was a shame, but Silivash did not give up just like that, and knocking her out of her rut, purposeful and calm, is very difficult. On individual shells, she won three of four exercises - in floor exercises, on a log and on uneven bars. She took third place in the vault.
1989 year
This year, Daniela Silivash takes part in the European Championship, which was held in Brussels. In the all-around she got silver, in these competitions she lost 0.013 points to the legendary Svetlana Boginskaya .
But she continued to strive only forward, towards the goal. I wanted to win the main title - the title of the absolute world champion.
At the world championships in Stuttgart, unfortunately, another failure again occurred with Daniela. Preliminary estimates are no longer taken into account, since the competition rules were revised, all finals began only from scratch. Daniela Silivash, unfortunately, fell from a log, and now her place was only twelfth. But here, the morale of the girl was not broken. On the shells, a seventeen-year-old gymnast proved to everyone that it was too early to send her “retired”. The bars obeyed her - she became the first, and also took the "gold" in freestyle competitions.
In the second half of the 80s, the undisputed leader among the Romanian gymnasts was the impeccable Daniela Silivas.
End of career
The athlete must always be mentally prepared for the fact that he can be injured at any moment and his career will be completed, no matter at what peak it is. Someone constantly lowers us from heaven to earth, and rightly so, because we need to look at things realistically.
In 1989, Daniela seriously injured her leg. This circumstance, along with political instability in Romania, forced Silivash to complete his performances forever.
Personal life
Daniela Silivash did not stay in her native country and in 1992 left for the USA. Today she lives in America with her family and is engaged in coaching. In 2002, a brilliant gymnast joined the ranks of the International Hall of Fame of this sport. In 2003, Daniela created a full-fledged family - she married Scott Harper, who is a sports manager, and today they have two sons and a daughter. They live in the American city of Mariette (Georgia).
No weak points
It was said that this athlete simply did not have a single weak point, she worked out 100% everywhere. She managed the most difficult combinations. The richest collection of awards of absolutely all categories belongs to gymnast Daniele Silivash. But, unfortunately, she still did not achieve the main titles that she always dreamed of - the absolute world champion, as well as the Olympic Games.