Ionela Târlea (during marriage ''Târlea-Manolache;'' born 9 February 1976) is a former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete, competing internationally for

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

. She won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the 400 m hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the same games in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece, Târlea helped the Romanian national team to sixth place in the 4 × 400 m relay. She gained recognition in top international competitions as early as 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics, when she came seventh in the 400 m hurdles event. In 1999 at the World Indoor Athletics Championships she won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

. In 2000 in Sydney, Australia, Târlea earned her place again in the finals of the 400 m hurdles event, and came sixth. In 2002, she reaped gold at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

held in Munich, also in the 400 m hurdles, her preferred event. A rather uneventful period followed for Târlea.:It was only in early 2008 that she secured her comeback among the world's top athletes as she came third in the 400 m event held in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

's Sparkassen Cup. She retired in April 2009, due to long-term injuries. At club level Târlea competed for Dinamo Bucharest, Fenerbahçe Istanbul and Sporting Portugal athletics.Fenerbahce Athletic

Achievements

References

External links

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Tirlea de argint!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarlea, Ionela 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Craiova Romanian female hurdlers Romanian female sprinters Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Olympic athletes for Romania Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Romania European Athletics Championships medalists Fenerbahçe athletes Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Romania World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal