Balaş, the 1960 and 1964 Olympic champion, set the first of her 14 world records as a 19-year-old in the summer of 1956 when she cleared 1.75 metres.

In 1957, she began a winning streak of 140 competitions that was to last just over a decade despite an unsophisticated technique that was little more than a slightly modified scissors jump.

In 1958, she became the first woman to clear 1.83m.

She improved her world record in 1961 on four more occasions, culminating in a clearance of 1.91m in Sofia on July 16, which remained unbeaten until 1971.

Kostadinova (pictured above), the 1987 and 1995 world champion and 1996 Olympic gold medallist, first came to international attention as a 19-year-old when she won at the 1985 IAAF World Indoor Games, the forerunner to the IAAF World Indoor Championships.

The following year she set two outdoor world records when she cleared 2.07m and then 2.08m within six days at the end of May at separate meetings in Sofia.

Iolanda Balaş was famous for her scissor style high jump technique

These feats were topped by her performance at the 1987 IAAF World Championships where in a thrilling competition with former Soviet world record holder Tamara Bykova, she negotiated 2.09m on her second attempt, which remains the world record to this day.

In 1995, just a few months after the birth of her son Nikolay, she regained the World Championships title, and the following summer she won the Atlanta 1996 Olympic gold.

At the 1997 World Indoor Championships, she won her fifth title at the event.

"I'm delighted that Iolanda Balaş and Stefka Kostadinova, two such thrilling exponents of high jumping will be among the inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame," said IAAF President Lamine Diack.

"In a discipline which mixes raw power with graceful flight they left an indelible mark on our sports history.

"Iolanda's decade long winning streak and Stefka's current world record are the ultimate examples of their legendary status."

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