Ionela Loaies' Biography

Ionela Loaies was born in Comanesti, near Bacau, on February 1, 1979.
Her father, Ion, is a miner & her mother, Elena, works in a furniture
factory. She has an older brother named Marius. Ionela began gymnastics
when she was 6 in Onesti. Her favorite events are bars & floor & her idols
were Nadia Comaneci, Gina Gogean & Lavinia Milosovici. In her free
time Ionela enjoys reading detective books, watching TV, listening to
music & playing electronic games. Her favorite singer is Michael Jackson
& her favorite actor is Steven Segal. Ionela's favorite food is the traditional
Romanian dish of stuffed cabbage called "sarmale". While in school, her
favorite subject was English & of all the places she's been to, her favorite
was Chicago. At age 17, Ionela was 4'10" tall & weighed 84 pounds. She
retired after the 1996 Olympics at age 17 & moved to the USA where
she now coaches at the Romanian owned club called ARGO Gymnastics
in Glenwood, Illinois.


                                     last updated: March 30, 2000