At that time, Romania was a powerhouse of world gymnastics alongside the United States, Russia and China.
Blaga was an elite gymnast and a member of the Romanian team from 1981 to 1985 and won a gold and silver medal at her naional championships.
Her best international performance was to win a bronze medal in the ribbon at the Polish international.
The atmosphere was less intense when she competed in the Masters Games at the Caledonian gymnasium on Saturday.
''The Masters Games is important because it gives the opportunity for more mature gymnasts who like competing to come back into the sport in a more relaxed environment,'' she said.
Some competitors on Saturday had never competed in gymnastics before.
''The Masters Games allows people like that to come and give it a go,'' Blaga said.
Blaga (43) emigrated to New Zealand with her husband, Dragos, 12 years ago and works as an occupational therapist at Dunedin Hospital.
She had a 25-year break from the sport before competing at the 2010 Masters Games in Dunedin.
''I trained for six hours every day of the week in Romania. My school lessons were part-time.''
It is different today. She coaches a group of six younger gymnasts at the Dunedin Gymnastics Academy.
Blaga trained for two hours twice a week with her team since November in preparation for the Masters Games.
''I have had great support from the young gymnasts I coach,'' Blaga said.
''Last night they gave me the same pep talk I give to them before competition.''
Blaga was joined by Kendall King (22), Kate Greeve (30) and Brooke Hastie (20) in a Dunedin team that won the gold medal in the ball discipline on Saturday.
Hastie won an individual silver medal on the advanced apparatus in the aged 20 to 29 division behind Catherine de Vos (Auckland).
Greeve won the gold medal on the advanced apparatus in the 30 to 39 age group. Jan Still (Dunedin) won the gold medal in the over age 50 novice grade.
Susie Hamelink (Waiheke Island) won the advanced gold medal in the 20 to 29 age grade and Annemarie Earwicker (Napier) the novice gold medal in the aged 30 to 39 grade.
Angela Ives (Dunedin) was first overall in the novice grade and Elizabeth Challies (Christchurch) was the overall winner of the novice aged 30 to 39 grade.
