The Girl with the Perfect Ten

It was at the ripe age of fourteen when Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci scored the first perfect 10.00 in Olympic History. It such was a surreal moment that not even the score board knew what to do; her score was presented as a 1.00, since the previous highest score was 9.99. At the 1976 Montreal Olympic games, she astonished the judge panel as well as the rest of the world with her stunning uneven bars routine. She was unstoppable, managing to achieve six more perfect tens for the duration of her gymnastic career. This was unheard of. Before her life-changing performance in Montreal, she was an aspiring Olypmian born in Onesți on November 12, 1961. Afterwards, Nadia Comaneci set forth a new perspective on gymnastics and forever changed the world’s view of gymnastics.

When she was six years old, Hungarian-Romania Coah Béla Károlyi had taken her in as his acolyte and profusely trained her to become the skilled gymnast that we know today. Károlyi was known to have a harsh teaching style, similar to that of the Soviet Union and East Germany. Comanaci and many other young Romanian gymnasts would train every day for countless hours in order to reach perfection. The young girls were disciplined to strive for perfection. They were put on restricted diets, trained furiously for many hours at a time and practiced until there wasn’t a single mistake in the routine. But what made Nadia stand out amongst her peers was her daring stunts and impeccable technique.

Her inspiration came from Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut. Olga Korbut’s gymnastics was groundbreaking, being the first woman to perform a backflip on the beam and inventing the “Korbut Flip''. These talented and disciplined gymnasts competed against each other in the 1976 Olympic games, and Nadia Comneci ultimately won. During those games, she was awarded gold in the uneven bars routine and the all-around individual competition. The Montreal games being the first Olympics for Nadia to compete, it was a step in the right direction for Comaneci and the Romanian gymnastics team.

She was known to have a mysterious and stern persona, which emulates her stance as a technician rather than a media presence. As stated by The Medal Count “her reputation as an innovator played a secondary role to her reputation as a technician”. Pre-Olympics, she was unknown to the public, although she was a force to be reckoned with in the Junior Championship, achieving three gold medals in 1973 and 1974. Her routines consisted of perfected already made moves to showcase her technical skills. She was the first woman to perform a backward double salto dismount on the uneven bars, which was banned in 2017 due to its difficulty.

Comaneci set forth greater expectations for the gymnastic community, inspiring many well-known figures in gymnastics such as Max Whitlock, Simone Biles and Daniela Silvias.

Her reign as Olympic champion came to an end in 1984 when she retired being a gymnast and worked for the Romanian team. Later, in 1989, she immigrated to the United States and resides there to this day. Today, the former Olympic gymnast is married to her husband, who is also a former Olympian, Bart Conner. She now lives in Norman, Oklahoma and operates the Bart Conner Gymnastics academy with her husband. She also opened a gymnastic school in Romania for the little girls who aspire to attain the immense goals of their idol. Although she no longer competes in gymnastics, she still immensely impacts the gymnastics community with her books “Nadia: The Autobiography of Nadia Comaneci” and “Letter to a Young Gymnast”.

Overall, her skill in the sport has inspired many young women to pursue their dreams, even if it seems impossible. Her story of a young girl from a small country with a gift has forever changed the way gymnastics is seen.

“Nadia Comaneci - Where Is She Now?” Where Is She Now? - Gymnastics, Conner, Including, and Magazine - JRank Articles, sports.jrank.org/pages/948/Comaneci-Nadia-Where-She-Now.html.

“Nadia Comăneci.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Nadia-Comaneci.

“Nadia Comaneci (ROU).” Olympics.com, International Olympic Committee, olympics.com/en/video/nadia-comaneci-rou.