Emilia Eberle
Encyclopedia
Gertrude Emilia Eberle was a Romania
n gymnast
of ethnic Hungarian - German
descent who was of European, World, and Olympic calibre.
Eberle, a pupil of the famous fellow ethnic Hungarian
husband-wife coaching team Béla Károlyi
and Márta Károlyi
before they defected from Romania to the United States, was the first female Romanian gymnastics star to succeed Nadia Comăneci
, although she was often in Comaneci's shadow as for the greater part of Eberle's career, they competed together. Despite this, she made a name for herself, garnering 13 individual medals at the European/World/Olympic level. Most notable among her accomplishments was her winning the Floor Exercise title at the 1979 Worlds
ahead of her legendary contemporaries Nelli Kim and Maxi Gnauck
as well as earning a silver medal on uneven bars at the 1980 Olympics
, being narrowly edged out of gold medal place by Gnauck.
She was also on the gold medal winning team at the 1979 World Championships held in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Despite her fall on the balance beam in the team optionals segment of the competition, other scores of hers were strong enough to keep the Romanian team in contention for the gold with the Soviet team. Ultimately, her compatriot Comaneci came back from an injury, having competed only in the compulsories segment of the team competition and having abstained from competing on any of the other apparatuses during the optionals segment of the competition, and competed on beam getting a very high score of 9.95, allowing the Romanians to scratch Eberle's lower score and win the gold medal. In any event, Eberle did help her team to a rare victory over the Soviet team, which was one of the Soviet team's only three world or Olympic title losses from 1952, when a full women's gymnastics program was first held at the Olympic games, to 1992, which was the last appearance of the unified Soviet team (under the guise of the Commonwealth of Independent States
).
Although a strong gymnast all-around (being silver medalist in the all-around twice in 1979 - at that year's World Cup and European Championships), she was especially noted for her work on the uneven bars where her routine could vary greatly from year-to-year with a very different set of skills from competition to competition, including her often very quick and unusual transitions from one bar to the other.
Like the Karolyis, Comaneci, and others, Eberle have left Romania in 1989 and moved to Hungary, and then to the USA two years later, in 1991. She is married and had a son, Roland borned in 1999, and trains in California with her fellow expatriate Romanian (and ethnic Hungarian
), gymnastics coach and choreographer Géza Poszar.
In November 2008, Eberle—who now goes by the name Trudi Kollar, incorporating her first name and her married last name—gave an interview to KCRA-TV
claiming that while she was a Romanian national team gymnast, coaches Bela
and Márta Károlyi
regularly beat her and her teammates for mistakes they made in practice or competition. "In one word, I can say it was brutal," she told KCRA.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n gymnast
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
of ethnic Hungarian - German
Banat Swabians
The Banat Swabians are an ethnic German population in Southeast Europe, part of the Danube Swabians. They emigrated in the 18th century to what was then the Austrian Banat province, which had been left sparsely populated by the wars with Turkey. This once strong and important ethnic Banat Swabian...
descent who was of European, World, and Olympic calibre.
Eberle, a pupil of the famous fellow ethnic Hungarian
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
husband-wife coaching team Béla Károlyi
Béla Károlyi
Béla Károlyi is a Romanian gymnastics coach. He was born in what was then Kolozsvár, Hungary, a region restored to Romanian administration after 1944. Károlyi and his wife, Márta, also of Hungarian origin, emigrated to the United States in 1981 and both have dual citizenships for Romania and the...
and Márta Károlyi
Marta Károlyi
Márta Károlyi , is an American gymnastics coach and the National Team Coordinator for USA Gymnastics. Károlyi is originally from Romania, she and her husband, Béla, are ethnic Hungarians, and trained athletes there as well, but defected to the United States in 1981...
before they defected from Romania to the United States, was the first female Romanian gymnastics star to succeed Nadia Comăneci
Nadia Comaneci
Nadia Elena Comăneci is a Romanian gymnast, winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the first female gymnast ever to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She is also the winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer...
, although she was often in Comaneci's shadow as for the greater part of Eberle's career, they competed together. Despite this, she made a name for herself, garnering 13 individual medals at the European/World/Olympic level. Most notable among her accomplishments was her winning the Floor Exercise title at the 1979 Worlds
1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 20th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Fort Worth, USA, in 1979. In November 1977 the 55th FIG Congress, held in Rome, changed the cycle of world championships: since 1979 they were to be held each two years, and the pre-Olympic ones were to be qualifications for the Olympic...
ahead of her legendary contemporaries Nelli Kim and Maxi Gnauck
Maxi Gnauck
Maxi Gnauck is a retired Artistic Gymnast. With a total of 27 medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cups, and European Championships she is considered one of the most successful woman gymnast that Germany has ever produced.Her parents were expecting a boy and they planned to name...
as well as earning a silver medal on uneven bars at the 1980 Olympics
Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics
At the 1980 Summer Olympics, fourteen different artistic gymnastics events were contested, eight for men and six for women. All events were held at the Sports Palace of the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow from July 20 through 25th...
, being narrowly edged out of gold medal place by Gnauck.
She was also on the gold medal winning team at the 1979 World Championships held in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Despite her fall on the balance beam in the team optionals segment of the competition, other scores of hers were strong enough to keep the Romanian team in contention for the gold with the Soviet team. Ultimately, her compatriot Comaneci came back from an injury, having competed only in the compulsories segment of the team competition and having abstained from competing on any of the other apparatuses during the optionals segment of the competition, and competed on beam getting a very high score of 9.95, allowing the Romanians to scratch Eberle's lower score and win the gold medal. In any event, Eberle did help her team to a rare victory over the Soviet team, which was one of the Soviet team's only three world or Olympic title losses from 1952, when a full women's gymnastics program was first held at the Olympic games, to 1992, which was the last appearance of the unified Soviet team (under the guise of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
).
Although a strong gymnast all-around (being silver medalist in the all-around twice in 1979 - at that year's World Cup and European Championships), she was especially noted for her work on the uneven bars where her routine could vary greatly from year-to-year with a very different set of skills from competition to competition, including her often very quick and unusual transitions from one bar to the other.
Like the Karolyis, Comaneci, and others, Eberle have left Romania in 1989 and moved to Hungary, and then to the USA two years later, in 1991. She is married and had a son, Roland borned in 1999, and trains in California with her fellow expatriate Romanian (and ethnic Hungarian
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
), gymnastics coach and choreographer Géza Poszar.
In November 2008, Eberle—who now goes by the name Trudi Kollar, incorporating her first name and her married last name—gave an interview to KCRA-TV
KCRA-TV
KCRA-TV, channel 3, is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States. KCRA-TV is owned by Hearst Television, a subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation, and is an affiliate of the NBC television network...
claiming that while she was a Romanian national team gymnast, coaches Bela
Béla Károlyi
Béla Károlyi is a Romanian gymnastics coach. He was born in what was then Kolozsvár, Hungary, a region restored to Romanian administration after 1944. Károlyi and his wife, Márta, also of Hungarian origin, emigrated to the United States in 1981 and both have dual citizenships for Romania and the...
and Márta Károlyi
Marta Károlyi
Márta Károlyi , is an American gymnastics coach and the National Team Coordinator for USA Gymnastics. Károlyi is originally from Romania, she and her husband, Béla, are ethnic Hungarians, and trained athletes there as well, but defected to the United States in 1981...
regularly beat her and her teammates for mistakes they made in practice or competition. "In one word, I can say it was brutal," she told KCRA.