Viorica Ionică played handball for Romania at the 1976 Montréal Olympics, just missing a medal as the team finished fourth. A goalkeeper, Ionică earned 237 caps during her career on the national team (1974-86), a Romanian record, and she became known as the Golden Lady of Romanian Handball, captaining the team from 1979-86. Ionică played at three editions of the World Championships (1975, 1978, 1982). She graduated from IEFS Bucareşti, and later worked as a physical education teacher at the Forestry Technical College.
Romania