Elena Leonte

Romanian handball player Elena Leonte played with HCM Constanța and won four national titles and three national cups before she fled to West Germany during the B-World Championships in 1985, held in Germany. She had already won 136 international caps for Romania and later added 95 more for Germany, scoring 530 goals in total.

Leonte helped the German national team in 1992 at the Barcelona Games, but finished an unfortunate fourth after losing the third-place match 24-20 against the Unified Team EUN. From 1985-90 she played with TV Lützellinden, winning three national titles and two national cups. In 1990 she moved to TV Mainzlar. From 1991-93, and in 1995, she was top scorer in the German Bundesliga. In 1988, 1991 and 1992 she was named Handball Player of the Year in (West) Germany.

Leonte later turned to coaching and became a graduated sports teacher. She also raised two children.