Then in the Summer, she won the inaugural 3,000 m title at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, a race remembered more for the collision of Mary Decker and Zola Budd.

At those Games, she also won a bronze medal in the 1,500 m behind Italy's Gabriella Dorio and Romanian teammate Doina Melinte.

[1] In July 1986, at the London Grand Prix, she broke Tatyana Kazankina's world 2,000 m record of 5:28.72, with a time of 5:28.69.

1987 began with her winning a bronze medal in the 3,000 m at the World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, finishing behind the Soviet pair of Tatyana Samolenko and Bondarenko.

[2] Puica competed at her fourth and final Olympic Games in Seoul 1988, where she dropped out of her 3000 m heat with just 200 metres to go.