Daniela Silivaș facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Daniela Silivaș
Silivaș in 1987
Personal information
Full name	Daniela Viorica Silivaș-Harper
Nickname(s)	Dana
Country represented	Romania
Born	(1972-05-09) 9 May 1972 (age 53) Deva, Romania
Residence	Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
Height	1.45 m (4 ft 9 in)
Weight	38 kg (84 lb)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Years on national team	1985–1989 (ROM)
Gym	Deva National Training Center
Head coach(es)	Adrian Goreac, Maria Cosma, Octavian Bellu
Former coach(es)	Béla Károlyi, Márta Károlyi
Music	1985–1986: "Turkey in the Straw"/"Cotton Eye Joe" 1987: "Ochi Chernye"/"Dark Eyes" 1988: "Macho Mozart" by the Latin Rascals 1989: "Ciuleandra"
Eponymous skills	Silivaș mount (balance beam): shoulder stand–pirouette to chest stand ; floor: double twisting double back tucked somersault
Retired	1991
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 1988 Seoul Uneven Bars Gold 1988 Seoul Balance Beam Gold 1988 Seoul Floor Exercise Silver 1988 Seoul Team Silver 1988 Seoul All-Around Bronze 1988 Seoul Vault World Championships Gold 1985 Montreal Balance Beam Gold 1987 Rotterdam Team Gold 1987 Rotterdam Uneven Bars Gold 1987 Rotterdam Floor Exercise Gold 1989 Stuttgart Uneven Bars Gold 1989 Stuttgart Balance Beam Gold 1989 Stuttgart Floor Exercise Silver 1985 Montreal Team Silver 1989 Stuttgart Team Bronze 1987 Rotterdam All-Around World Cup Final Silver 1986 Beijing All-Around Silver 1986 Beijing Balance Beam Bronze 1986 Beijing Uneven Bars European Championships Gold 1987 Moscow All-Around Gold 1987 Moscow Uneven Bars Gold 1987 Moscow Balance Beam Gold 1987 Moscow Floor Exercise Gold 1989 Brussels Floor Exercise Silver 1987 Moscow Vault Silver 1989 Brussels All-Around Silver 1989 Brussels Uneven Bars Bronze 1985 Helsinki Floor Exercise Bronze 1989 Brussels Balance Beam

Daniela Viorica Silivaș-Harper (born May 9, 1972) is a famous former gymnast from Romania. She is best known for winning six medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. She won three gold, two silver, and one bronze medal. This made her the fourth female gymnast ever to win a medal in every single event at one Olympics. As of 2024, she is the last gymnast to do this.

Daniela is also the first gymnast to win three individual Olympic and World titles on three different pieces of equipment. These were the uneven bars, floor exercise, and balance beam. Only Simone Biles has matched this achievement, 20 years later. Daniela won 16 Olympic and World medals in total, with 10 of them being gold. In 1987, she won four gold medals and one silver at the European Championships in Moscow. Throughout her career, she earned 24 perfect 10 scores. Seven of these perfect scores were earned at the Seoul Olympics. This tied the record set by Nadia Comăneci in 1976.

Daniela Silivaș was chosen as one of the "Top Ten All-Around Gymnasts of All Time" by Inside Gymnastics magazine. People admired her for her excellent technique, difficult routines, and artistic style. She retired in 1991 and moved to the United States. She now works as a gymnastics coach. In 2002, she was added to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Early Life and Training

Daniela Silivaș was born in Deva, Romania, on May 9, 1972. She started gymnastics when she was six years old. For six months, she was coached by Béla Károlyi before he left Romania in 1981. Daniela won her school's championships in 1980. She became the Romanian junior national champion in both 1981 and 1982.

She continued to compete in junior events until 1984. At the 1984 Junior European Championships, she won the balance beam title. She also earned silver medals on the uneven bars and floor exercise. She placed fourth in the all-around competition. At another junior event, the 1984 Junior Friendship Tournament, she won gold medals in the all-around and uneven bars. She competed against other strong gymnasts who would later win Olympic and World medals.

Senior Gymnastics Career

Becoming a Senior Gymnast

In 1985, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation changed Daniela's birth year. They changed it from 1972 to 1970. This made her old enough to compete in the World Championships in Montreal. Daniela herself shared this information in 2002. She said that she was not asked about the change. Officials simply gave her a new passport with the new birth date. They told her she was now 15 years old.

Success in 1985–1987

Even though she was only 13 in 1985, Daniela scored a perfect 10 at the World Championships. She won the balance beam title, beating her teammate Ecaterina Szabo, who was the Olympic champion. In 1986, she finished second in the individual all-around at the World Cup. She quickly became a top gymnast for the Romanian team.

Daniela's biggest success happened at the 1987 European Gymnastics Championships in Moscow. She won the individual all-around title. She also won gold medals on the uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. She took home a silver medal on the vault. At that time, the best gymnastics teams were all in Europe. Winning the European title against strong teams from the Soviet Union, East Germany, and Bulgaria was a huge victory.

Silivaș at the 1987 World Championships

At the 1987 World Championships in Rotterdam, Daniela helped the Romanian team win the team title. This was the first time they had beaten the Soviet team since 1979. Many thought she would win the all-around title. She had a fall on the balance beam during the team event. Even with this, she still won the bronze medal in the all-around. She also won gold medals on the uneven bars and floor exercise in the event finals.

1988 Seoul Olympics

At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, the Romanian team finished second to the Soviet team. Daniela was one of the top gymnasts expected to win the all-around title. The all-around competition was a close fight between Daniela and Soviet gymnast Yelena Shushunova. Daniela was known for her perfect technique and graceful dance. Shushunova was known for her powerful tumbling. Both gymnasts received perfect 10.0 scores on the floor exercise. Shushunova also got a 10.0 on vault, and Daniela got a 10.0 on the uneven bars.

Daniela was leading before the last rotation. However, a score of 9.950 on the vault dropped her to second place. She was only 0.025 points behind Shushunova. Daniela was visibly upset after the scores were announced. She later said, "After my last vault, I thought maybe I should be the champion." Even with the close scores, Daniela or her coaches did not officially protest the results.

Despite not winning the all-around gold, Daniela came back strong in the event finals. She won gold medals on the uneven bars, floor, and balance beam. She also won a bronze medal on vault. This made her the only gymnast in Seoul to win medals in every single event. She also tied Nadia Comăneci's record of seven perfect 10 scores in one Olympic Games.

After the Olympics

In 1989, Daniela suffered a serious knee injury. Despite this, she successfully defended her floor exercise title at the European Championships. She also won three more medals there. In the all-around, she placed second. Still injured, she competed at the 1989 World Championships. She placed 12th in the all-around after falling from the balance beam. However, in the event finals, she won three more gold medals on the bars, beam, and floor.

After more competitions in 1989, Daniela had surgery on her knee. She planned to train again, but the National Training Center in Deva closed. This happened during the Romanian Revolution of 1989. This closure unfortunately ended her gymnastics career early.

Life After Gymnastics

Daniela Silivaș retired from gymnastics in 1991. She then moved to the United States and settled in Atlanta. In 2002, she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She holds the record as the youngest gymnast to receive this honor.

Daniela works full-time as a gymnastics coach at Jump Start Gymnasium in Sandy Springs, Georgia. In May 2003, she married Scott Harper. They have three children: two sons, Jadan Scott (born 2004) and Rylan Bryce Harper (born 2009), and a daughter, Ava Luciana (born 2005). They live in Marietta, Georgia.

Gymnastics Skills

Daniela Silivaș was known for her perfect form, difficult routines, and expressive dance. Many of the skills she performed are still considered very difficult today.

Skills Named After Her

Daniela Silivaș has two skills named after her in the official gymnastics rulebook, the Code of Points.

Images for kids

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  Silivaș at the 1987 World Championships

See also

In Spanish: Daniela Silivaș para niños

• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games
• List of Olympic female gymnasts for Romania
• List of top Olympic gymnastics medalists
• List of top medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships