About

It is practically impossible to talk about gymnastics without mentioning Nadia Comaneci. She is a legend in this sport. At the 1976 Olympics, Nadia made history by becoming the first gymnast ever to score a perfect 10. Altogether at those games, she received seven perfect 10s, three gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

Nadia was born in Onesti, Romania, in 1961. When she was only six years old, she began working with renowned Romanian gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi. Karolyi recruited her for the Romanian junior gymnastics team, and in 1970 she won the national junior championship. 

Nadia continued winning in her age group and collected other junior titles until 1975 when she began senior competition. In the European championship, she won the overall title and three individual events. The next competition on her hit list was the 1976 American Cup, which took place four months before the Olympics. 

In 1976, Nadia came to North America for the first time and won several pre-Olympic titles, often earning perfect scores for her routines. At the Olympics, she became the first gymnast to receive a perfect score from the judges, earning a 10.00 on the uneven bars.

She led Romania to the silver medal in the team competition, behind the Soviet Union, and then took the individual gold medals on the uneven bars and the balance beam, while also winning the overall individual competition. 
She went on to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which were boycotted by Western nations, winning individual gold medals in the floor exercises and on the balance beam. 

In 1984 she retired from gymnastics, and in 1989 she defected from Romania to the United States. Today, she and husband Bart Connor work closely with D.A.R.E. America in helping show young people that drugs and sports don’t mix.

Quote 

"Hard work has made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win. "
Nadia Comaneci