Daniela SILIVAS

Daniela Silivaș was born in Transylvania in 1972, however her year of birth was faked by the Romanian authorities to make her eligible her for the 1985 World Championships and was always given as 1970 during her career. Only in 2002 did she confirm her correct year of birth. Silivaș started to compete in National Junior Championships in 1981 and participated in the 1984 European Junior Championships, where she won gold in balance beam and silver in uneven bars and floor – the three apparatuses on which she would become world class.

Her first competition on the senior level followed in 1985 – though under-aged – when she competed in Montréal at the World Championships. Silivaș obtained a perfect 10 and won the title on the balance beam as well as a silver medal with the team. In 1987 she won three gold medals (uneven bars, floor, and team) at the World Championships and four gold medals (all-around, uneven bars, floor, and balance beam - no team event was held) at the European Championships, before becoming the gymnastic superstar of the 1988 Olympics. Silivaș medaled in every event including three golds on uneven bars, floor, and balance beam, making her the most successful female gymnast in Seoul. In 1989 she suffered a serious knee injury, but was again able to win three golds (uneven bars, floor, and balance beam) at the World Championships and gold in floor at the European Championships. In total she won 7-2-1 medals at the World Championships and 5-3-2 at the European Championships.

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 (which resulted in a loss of training opportunities), a surgery on her knee in 1990, and emigration to the United States in 1991 ended her career. Silivaș, who was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2002, married Scott Harper in 2003. The couple lives in Georgia and has three children (two boys and a girl). Silivaș stills works as a gymnastics coach, mainly with young gymnasts.