IAAF Hall of Fame - Iolanda Balas (ROM) (© Getty Images)
Among the Presidents, Team Leaders and Coaches of the delegations taking part in the World Junior Championships in Santiago are several former Olympic Champions and world record holders.
Iolanda Balas-Söter, the President of the Romanian Athletic Federation, was Olympic Champion in 1960 and 1964 in the high jump. Between 1956 and 1961 she improved the world record 14 times, from 1.75m to 1.91m.
Glynnis Nunn-Cearns (Australia) and Gabriella Dorio (Italy) both won gold medals in the 1984 Olympics. The Australian took the Heptathlon ahead of superstar Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and the Italian was victorious at 1500m.
Igor Paklin (Kyrghyzstan) held the world high jump record between 4 September 1985 and 30 June 1987 with 2.41m. Only Cuban Javier Sotomayor (2.45) and Swede Patrick Sjöberg (2.42m) have jumped higher that the 1986 European Champion.
Robert Emmiyan (Armenia), who started working as a coach in Qatar some months ago, still holds the European long jump record with 8.86m, and is fourth in the All-time lists behind three Americans: Mike Powell (8.95), Bob Beamon (8.90) and Carl Lewis (8.87m).
Gustav Schwenk for the IAAF
