Simeoni, Sara (1953—)
Simeoni, Sara (1953—)
Italian high jumper. Born in Italy on April 19, 1953.
Won a silver medal in the high jump at the Montreal Olympics (1976); won a gold medal in the high jump at the Moscow Olympics (1980); won the bronze medal in the European championships (1982); won the silver medal at the Los Angeles Olympics (1984).
As a child, Sara Simeoni dreamed of being a ballet star, but she kept growing. At age 12, told that she was too tall and her feet were too big for ballet, she switched to high jumping, realizing one half of her wish. In Italy and elsewhere, she became a star. She set a best-on-record performance in the high jump on August 4, 1978, in Brescia, Italy, with a jump of 6'7". In the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, she beat out competitor Rosemarie Ackermann for the gold medal with a jump of 6'5½", breaking the Olympic record. After that, she was plagued with injuries. She came out of retirement four years later, when her battle with Ulrike Meyfarth was the highlight of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. After Simeoni took the silver at 6'6¾", she laughed, kissed a startled photographer, and went back into retirement.