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Iolanda Balas ( Timisoara, Romania, 12 December 1936) was a Romanian athlete and an Olympic champion in high-jump, considered one of the greatest high jumpers ever.
She obtained two Olympic gold medals in the edition of Roma 1960 and Tokyo 1964 and she became famous for her domination of women's high jump for a decade. Between 1957 and 1967, Balas won 140 consecutive competitions, improving the world record 14 times, from 1.74m to 1.91m.
Her record of 1.91 resisted until the end of 1971, when the introduction of Fosbury style allowed other athletes to improve it.
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in High Jump |
| 1928: Ethel Catherwood | 1932: Jean Shiley | 1936: Ibolya Csák | 1948: Alice Coachman | 1952: Esther Brand | 1956: Mildred McDaniel | 1960: Iolanda Balas | 1964: Iolanda Balas | 1968: Miloslavá Rezková | 1972: Ulrike Meyfarth | 1976: Rosemarie Ackermann | 1980: Sara Simeoni | 1984: Ulrike Meyfarth | 1988: Louise Ritter | 1992: Heike Henkel | 1996: Stefka Kostadinova | 2000: Yelena Yelesina | 2004: Yelena Slesarenko |