Ileana Gyarfaș

Ileana Gyarfaș was born in Cluj-Napoca and first began her gymnastics career with Dermata Cluj. After completing primary schooling in her hometown, she attended the College of Physical Education in București where she was a member of the gymnastics team that won a national championship in 1951. The next year, she was selected as a member of the Romanian women’s Olympic gymnastics team which finished ninth in the team standings out of 16 competing nations. She also finished third amongst her eight teammates, with 69.61 points. In 1952, she also won a national title in horizontal bar, second place in parallel bars and third in individual overall.

In the following years, she won multiple medals at the Romanian National Championships, including gold in rings (1953), silver in balance beam (1953), team silver (1953, 1954 and 1955), individual silver (1954, 1955) and gold in the 1956 team competition. She later became a teacher and gymnastics coach at the College of Physical Education, and was awarded the title of Master of Sports.