Biography: PIEO, Roman

Roman “Pieo” Paglione, competing under the name Roman Pieo, was one of the many individuals in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s to contract “polio.”  It is amazing to me that so many managed to avoid the disease. It is also very dear to my heart that Roman was able to deal with his challenge in a manner that had to be an inspiration for others who suffered the same disabling results of this now almost defunct disease.  Jonas Salk and his team just weren’t born early enough for all of us to be safe. I hope his story provides encouragement to readers who may be similarly or otherwise challenged.

National AAU Championships: Gold-RC, (1935, ’37, ’40, & ’41); Member & Captain of Penn State’s Gymnastics team competing on the PH, PB, HB, & RC.  EIGL Championships: Gold-RC, (1941). Judge/Contributor: Twice Executive Director of NGJA Eastern Division; Member of the National Gymnastics Judges Association (Eastern Division) Hall of Fame; Judged National and International competitions and was a nationally and internationally rated judge. “Flit” as he was known to many, attended and passed the 1976 FIG Judges course given by Carl Heinz Zchocke, Toronto, Canada. Personal: Roman was considered an excellent judge, and he was known to have a great sense of humor. He hosted numerous clinics in his home attended by Frank Cumiskey, Lou Bordo, Bob Stout, and Frank Wells, all prominent in national and international gymnastics. Shortly after completing the FIG course, his diabetes flared and he passed after undergoing heart by-pass surgery at Deborah Hospital in New Jersey.

Source: Text courtesy of Tom Gibbs & Jerry Wright, author of Gymnastics Who’s Who, 2005. Suggestions, additional information, and editing by Bruce Davis, Abie Grossfeld, 1979 HOF Honoree, and A. Bruce Frederick, author of Who’s Who in American Gymnastics. Introduction, commentary, and formatting by Larry Banner, Web Manager.