Lia MANOLIU

In 1972, Lia Manoliu became the first track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics. She competed at the national level in tennis, table tennis, volleyball and basketball, before turning to throwing events at age 16. Four years later, in 1952, she competed at her first Olympics, finishing sixth. Manoliu won Olympic discus gold in 1968, adding bronzes in 1960 and 1964, while finishing ninth in 1956 and 1972. She also competed at five European Championships between 1954 and 1971, missing only the 1958 edition, with a best finish of fourth in 1969. Manoliu was Balkan Games Champion in 1958-60, 1962-63, and 1968-69 and Romanian champion in 1952, 1960, 1962-64, 1966 and 1968-70.

Manoliu retired from athletics shortly after the 1972 Olympics, and in 1974 was awarded the UNESCO Fair Play Prize, for promoting the ideals of fair and loyal competition. From 1973-90, Manoliu served as vice-president of the Romanian Olympic Committee, after which she was named President, serving in that position until her death. In 1975 Manoliu was awarded the Olympic Order in bronze and in 1994 the IOC Centennial Trophy. She was a member of the IAAF Women’s Committee from 1976-95 and of the Romanian Senate in 1990-92. Manoliu died of a heart attack in January 1998 after lapsing into a coma during a recent surgery for a brain tumor. In 2012 the national stadium in Bucareşti was named for her.