Sara Simeoni

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Medal record
Women's Athletics
Competitor for  Italy
Olympic Games
Gold	1980 Moscow	High Jump
Silver	1976 Montreal	High Jump
Silver	1984 Los Angeles	High Jump

Sara Simeoni (born April 19, 1953) is an Italian former high jumper, who won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics and twice set a world record in the women's high jump.

Sara Simeoni was born in Rivoli Veronese, in the province of Verona. She soon took up athletics, specialising in the high jump. Her first international result was at the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki, where she ended 9th with a 178 cm jump.

Her first taste of international success was at the 1976 in Montreal, where she won a silver medal, with a personal best of 1.91 m, and was beaten only by Rosemarie Ackermann's 1.93 m leap.

In August 1978, she set the new world record with 2.01 m in Brescia (this jump stood as a national record until Antonietta Di Martino jumped 2.02 in June 2007). Later in the same month she equalled it at Prague while winning the European title. In 1980, Simeoni set a new Olympic record of 1.97 m, when winning gold in Moscow.

Simeoni struggled to regain her form in the following years, with a series of tendon injuries. At 1984 Olympics, Simeoni carried the Italian flag at the opening ceremony in Los Angeles. Here, she cemented her reputation as one of the greatest female high jumpers ever, in a thrilling duel with German Ulrike Meyfarth. Simeoni managed to reach the 2 meters measure for the first time since 1978. The ageing Meyfarth, however, replied with a notable 2.02 m jump, and Simeoni won a silver medal.

Simeoni's other titles include two bronze medals at the European Championships and 23 national titles. Her jump of 2.01 m was the Italian record for women for 29 years. The 8th of June 2007 Antonietta Di Martino jumped 2.02 meters, establishing the new Italian record for women. Sara Simeoni is widely considered one of the best Italian female athletes ever.

[edit] Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result
1970	European Junior Championships		5th
1971	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	9th
1972	Olympic Games	Munich, West Germany	6th
1973	European Indoor Championships	Rotterdam, Netherlands	9th
1974	European Indoor Championships	Göteborg, Sweden	11th
	European Championships	Rome, Italy	3rd
1975	European Indoor Championships	Katowice, Poland	4th
	Mediterranean Games	Algiers, Algeria	1st
1976	Olympic Games	Montreal, Canada	2nd
1977	European Indoor Championships	San Sebastián, Spain	1st
	Universiade	Sofia, Bulgaria	1st
1978	European Indoor Championships	Milan, Italy	1st
	European Championships	Prague, Czechoslovakia	1st
1979	Mediterranean Games	Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia	1st
1980	European Indoor Championships	Sindelfingen, West Germany	1st
	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	1st
1981	European Indoor Championships	Grenoble, France	1st
	Universiade	Bucharest, Romania	1st
1982	European Championships	Athens, Greece	3rd
1983	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	elimin. in qualif.
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	2nd
1986	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	elimin. in qualif.

v • d • e Olympic champions in women's high jump 1928: Ethel Catherwood • 1932: Jean Shiley • 1936: Ibolya Csák • 1948: Alice Coachman • 1952: Esther Brand • 1956: Mildred McDaniel • 1960: Iolanda Balaş • 1964: Iolanda Balaş • 1968: Miloslava 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

Records
Preceded by Rosemarie Ackermann	Women's High Jump World Record Holder August 4, 1978 – September 8, 1982	Succeeded by Ulrike Meyfarth
Sporting positions
Preceded by Rosemarie Ackermann	Women's High Jump Best Year Performance 1978	Succeeded by Rosemarie Ackermann
Preceded by Rosemarie Ackermann	Women's High Jump Best Year Performance 1980	Succeeded by Pamela Spencer