Emilia Eberle (ROM)
 |
1977 Balkan
Championships: 4th AA
1977 Moscow News: 7th AA, 3rd BB, 5th FX
1977 Riga International: 10th AA
1977 Romanian Championships: 3rd AA
1977 USA-ROM Dual Meet: 1st T, 2nd AA
1978 Jr. European Champs: 1st AA, 1st
V, 1st UB, 4th BB, 2nd FX, 4th B
1978 Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba): 4th
AA
1978 FRG-ROM Dual Meet: 1st AA
1978 Romanian Championships: 1st AA
1978 World Championships: 2nd T, 5th AA, 5th V,
3rd UB, 3rd BB, 3rd FX
1979 Balkan Championships: 2nd AA, 1st BB
1979 European Championships: 2nd AA, 7th V, 2nd UB, 2nd BB, 4th FX
1979 GBR-ROM Dual Meet: 1st T, 1st AA
1979 International Championships of Romania: 2nd
AA
1979 Paris Grand Prix: 3rd AA
1979 World Championships: 1st T, 8th AA, 3rd UB,
1st FX
1979
World Cup: 2nd AA, 8th V, 1st UB, 1st BB, 3rd FX
1980 Coca Cola International: 1st AA, 1st V, 1st
UB
1980 GBR-ROM Dual Meet: 1st AA
1980 International Championships of Romania: 3rd
AA, 2nd BB, 1st FX
1980 ITA-ROM Dual Meet: 3rd AA
1980 Olympic Games: 2nd T, 6th AA, 2nd UB, 6th
BB, 5th FX
1981 World Cup: 8th AA, 4th FX, 6th B
1981 Balkan Championships: 2nd UB, 4th AA
1981 Ennia Gold Cup: 1st AA, 1st UB, 1st BB, 3rd
FX
1981 European Championships: 18th AA
1981 International Championships of Romania: 2nd
AA, 2nd UB, 1st FX
1981 University Games: 1st T, 1st UB, 1st FX
1981 World Championships: 4th T, 28th AA
(prelims)
1983 Hapoel Games: 1st AA
1983 University Games: 2nd AA
The majority of these results were compiled from information found at Gymn Forum, in
particular Gymn Forum's tribute to Eberle
  |
Photos courtesy of J. Sutherland
Emilia Eberle was born on March 4,
1964 and emerged onto the international
scene in 1977, one year after Nadia Comaneci put Romania "on
the map" at the 1976 Olympics. While many gymnasts would
have found the task of competing next to (or against) Nadia a
daunting one, Eberle became a Romanian star in her own right.
Never as popular as Nadia, Eberle nonetheless secured a legion of
titles and fans across the world.
Eberle has anticipated the 1984
Olympics to be her farewell competition, but in 1983 she required surgery for
appendicitis. She was unable to regain competitive form. Eberle hoped to
continue with gymnastics as a coach, but her home sports club, Arad SC, could
not offer her a position. Instead, Eberle performed shift-work at a nearby
factory.
Frustrated by the situation in
Romania, on the night of May 19, 1989, Eberle
defected to Hungary via the town of Battonya. Eberle spoke about her defection
with with Hungarian newspapers Népsport and Sport Plussz.
No longer under Romanian authority, Eberle chose to revert
back to her given name, Trudi. Eberle's full name has always been Gertrud Emilia
Eberle, but as an international competitor the all-power Romanian
gymnastics federation insisted that she go by her middle name, Emilia. Eberle
was of ethnic Hungarian descent and the name Gertrud reflect such. In contrast,
Emilia was more Romanian sounding.
Once in Hungary, Eberle was
immediately offered a coaching position in Békéscsaba (home of the Hungarian
Gymnastics Center and hometown of Hungarian greats Henrietta Ónodi and
Adrienn Varga) but Eberle yearned to be in Budapest with her great-Aunt. In
Budapest, Eberle picked up a part-time coaching position at Bp. Spartacus SC and
supplemented this with craftsman work. Eventually she was able to secure a
full-time coaching position. Eventually the Hungarian Sports Aids Committee
provided her with some relief funds.
While in Hungary Eberle met her
future husband, Ferenc Kollár (now Frank Kollar), a former Hungarian Judo
player. Sponsored by a kind American couple, Eberle and Kollár immigrated to the United States in early 1991
as Eberle was offered a
coaching job at Gold Cities Gymnastics in Grass Valley, CA. In
1993, she was joined at this gym by 1980 Olympic high bar
champion Stoyan Deltchev of Bulgaria.
On February 6, 1999 Trudi gave birth to their first child, a son named Roland (see photos below).
In addition to motherhood, Trudi coaches at Pozsar's Gymnastics Academy in Sacremento, CA.
 |
Eberle with son Roland
|
 |
A more recent photo of Roland
|
| Photos
used with the expressed permission of the Kollar family. |
Many thanks to Erzsébet Büki for providing English translations of Hungarian reports of Eberle's defection.
. This page was created on June 10th, 1999 and last updated on December 2,
2000.
|
|
| 