Paula Ivan (born 20 July 1963 as Ionescu, later known as Ilie) is a retired

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

n middle-distance runner. Born in Herăști,

Giurgiu County Giurgiu () is a county (''județ'') of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Giurgiu. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 265,494 and the population density was . * Romanians – over 96% * Roman ...

, she graduated from the Gheorghe Șincai High School in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

in 1982. In 1987, Ivan won gold medals in the 1500 m and 3000 m at the 1987 Summer Universiade. Later the same year at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

she did not advance past the heats of the same events. In July 1988 she won the 800 m and 1500 m events at the Balkan Games, setting her all-times personal best over 800 m. On 27 July at

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Ivan broke the 4-minute barrier over 1500 m, clocking 3:58.80. She improved to 3:56.22 in Zurich on 17 August. At the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

she won a silver medal in her first event, 3000 m, followed by a gold in the 1500 m. Her winning time, 3:53.96 was the

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (lis ...

until 2021. In 1989 Ivan won the 1500 m at the European Indoor Championships in Den Haag, in a time of 4:07.16. Later that year, outdoors, she broke the world record for the

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Engli ...

with a time of 4:15.61. She repeated her 1500/3000 m golden double at the Universiade in

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in August and then won the 1500 m at the IAAF World Cup in

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in September. She then retired from competitions to become a coach. Ivan competed in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships four times (1984–1987). At the 1985 championships, she was part of the Romanian team that won the bronze medal (Ivan finished 34th). Her best individual performance was a 9th-place finish at the 1987 race in Warsaw. In 2000, at 36 years old and after ten seasons away from competition, Ivan returned for one more season. She ran the 1500 m in several meets on the IAAF Grand Prix circuit, with her season's best time being 4:04.66, at the Monte Carlo Herculis-Zepter meet, on 18 August 2000. Since 2002, she works at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport at Spiru Haret University in Bucharest.

References

1963 births Living people People from Giurgiu County Romanian female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Romania Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for Romania Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1989 Summer Universiade {{Romania-athletics-bio-stub