Helen Schifano-Sjursen competed at the national level after only three years in the sport and was the national parallel bars champion by the time she was 19. Her seven AAU gold medals in 10 years caught international attention, and although she never medaled individually at the international level, Schifano-Sjursen made the 1948 Olympic Team and was named an honorary member to the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Teams, two Olympiads that were missed due to World War II.
Publisher of four books, Schifano-Sjursen stayed active in the sport well after retirement. The World Acrobatic Society Gallery of Legends inductee wrote a regular column for the Modern Gymnast and appeared in a milk commercial working the uneven bars at the age of 62.
