Lia Manoliu at the 1964 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
It is with deep regret that the IAAF received news of the death of Lia Manoliu, the President of the Romanian National Olympic Committee and a Member of the IAAF Women’s Committee between 1976 and 1995.
Manoliu, who was 65, died in hospital in Bucharest following an operation for a brain tumour.
Manoliu was also one of the greatest discus throwers in history. She is the only woman athlete ever to have taken part in six Olympic Games. She won a gold medal on her fifth appearance at the Games in 1968 with her first throw of 58.28 (an Olympic record) to become the oldest woman to win an Olympic title in athletics. She also won the bronze in Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964. She made her first Olympic appearance as a 20 year-old in 1952 and her last in 1972, when she finished ninth.
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