Nadia Comăneci – The “Perfect 10” Olympic Gold Medalist

This is the unbelievable story of Nadia Comăneci, a Romanian gymnast who despite facing all the difficulties life threw at her, achieved the greatest feats in the history of The Olympic Games.

A Star Is Born

Nadia Comăneci was born to Gheorghe and Ștefania Comăneci, a Romanian Orthodox couple, on November 12th, 1961 in Onești, Romania. The small city didn’t know yet who had been born into their population.

It’s In The Name

Gheorghe and Ștefania’s first child got her name because of a movie that her mother had watched. The Russian movie’s heroine’s name was “Nadya”, meaning “hope”. This name would carry on its legacy through Nadia Comăneci.

Energetic Spirit

Growing up, Nadia was very energetic and couldn’t keep herself still when she was at home. her parents felt it necessary to find a positive outlet for their daughter’s vitality. After doing a little bit of research, gymnastics became their answer.

Written In The Stars

From a young age, Nadia was very competitive and she was always out to achieve greatness. “I was driven towards something I wanted to be the best at, and I didn’t know exactly what it was, it happened to be gymnastics.”

Scouting For Talent

When Nadia was only 6 years old, she was enjoying her recess at school with some friends. Walking by the school yard were Béla and Márta Károlyi – a married couple who were both gymnastic coaches and frequently scouted for young talent. They noticed Nadia and a friend doing cartwheels with impeccable form and decided that they had to speak to the girls about joining their gym.

Meet Béla Károlyi

Béla Károlyi was always passionate about sports. He once was a junior boxing coach and then went on to become a hammer-throwing champion. After he met his wife Márta, his passion shifted to gymnastics and that is why on that special day, he pursued Nadia Comăneci in her school yard.

Keep Practicing

They went classroom by classroom to find Nadia, and when they found her and offered their training, she gladly accepted with the consent of her parents. When they started training, Béla Károlyi noticed that Nadia Comăneci was a relentless student and never gave up, no matter how many times she fell down.

An Early Win

Béla Károlyi sent Nadia to her first major competition, the Romanian National Junior Championship where she came in at 13th place. Even though it was a disappointing rank in her mind, she pushed on with the help of Béla and competed again in 1970 and successfully took first place.

Hard Work And Little Rest

Her first success would prove to be the first mark of a series of excellent achievements. But it didn’t come without hard work. Nadia was training for 8 hours a day and 6 days a week when she was only 13 years old.

Too Much?

Many years after Nadia had left the training arena of Béla Károlyi, she was asked whether she felt that she was over-trained during her early training days. She was quick to reply with an answer that told quite the opposite. Whenever she was told to do any amount of repetitions, she would usually double or even triple the amount she was told to do. She wanted to be the best and she made sure to get there.

Big Moves

When she traveled to Skien, Norway to participate in the 1975 European Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships, she showed Europe what she was capable of doing. Comăneci achieved gold medals for all of her performances, minus one. For the floor exercise, she received a silver medal and went back to Romania with her spirits at an all-time high.

The World Stage

The 1976 American Cup was supposed to serve as a warm-up for the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics that would follow, but Nadia used the opportunity to show off her skills to the American crowds.

Two Winners

After completing yet another mesmerizing gymnastic performance, it was time to get her prize. For this competition, both a male and female gymnast would receive a silver cup – one each. Neither of the athletes knew each-other at this point, but they would get to know each-other a whole lot better.

Only A Kiss

Cameras flashed and the crowd cheered as the 18 year-old American athlete, Bart Conner stood next to 14 year-old Nadia Comăneci. A journalist boldly called out the pair, “Kiss for the cameras, please!” Bart didn’t think twice – he leaned over and planted a soft peck on the young lady’s cheek. The picture would become an image that made America fall in love with Nadia Comăneci.

The Game-Changer

After making an impression in America, Nadia took the judges’ breath away in Montreal. Her display of perfection was shown by the scores given by the judges – they gave her perfect scores of 10! But she didn’t just receive this score once, she scored it 6 more times. Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast to receive this score at the Olympic Games.

Perfect 10

The huge crowd didn’t know what was going on when they looked at the scoreboard because it read “1.00.” The manufacturers of the scoreboard didn’t think it was possible for anyone to achieve a perfect 10 score and therefore didn’t program it to display such a score. When everyone realized that the 1.00 was actually meant to be 10.00, they rose from their seats and cheered loudly.

Confusion In The Stands

The crowd weren’t the only ones who were confused, Nadia’s coach, Béla Károlyi at first was infuriated, thinking that they had penalized Nadia. “I said ‘holy cow, they deducted something over here, there is a deduction, there is a penalty,’ I was on my way to the jury, then I heard, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, first time in the history of the sport, a perfect 10 in the Olympic Games.’”

A Hero’s Welcome

Following the record-breaking Olympic Games in Montreal, it was time for Nadia to fly back home. She had no idea that waiting for her on the ground in Bucharest, was a crowd of over 10,000 fans waiting to see their new hero’s face. She was so overwhelmed by the cheering crowd, that she went back into the airplane until she was encouraged to disembark once again.

A Hero’s Honor

The president of Romania at the time, Nicolae Ceaușescu awarded Nadia with the “Sickle and Hammer Gold Medal”. The president’s administration dubbed her a hero of “socialist labor”, granted her family a full month of vacation and even gave her family a brand new car.

No Space For Anyone Else

Nadia’s face was published all over the world. Time Magazine featured Nadia Comăneci on their August 1976 cover, while the huge story of Mars exploration was confined to a corner of the front cover. Nadia was a star that outshone all others.

Front Page

Nadia’s publicity spread to other magazines too. Newsweek Magazine printed giant yellow words on their cover that read, “A Star Is Born” accompanied by a picture of Nadia in full color. The Associated Press dubbed her “Female Athlete of the Year” and BBC named her “Overseas Sports Personality of the Year”.

Splitting Up

Everything seemed to be going so well for the young teenage star, but then things starting taking a turn, and the turn would flip her world upside down. It started when her parents decided to get divorced and her father moved to Bucharest.

Losing Béla

The bad news of her parents was only the start of a sour spell of worse luck. Romanian sporting officials decided to split Nadia and her coach up. Béla Károlyi had been Nadia’s coach since she was six years old, and he had shaped her into the star she had become. This was the start of a distressing time.

Difficult Times

She was only 15 years old when trouble came from all sides, and she didn’t know how to deal with it all. Nadia lost her motivation and drive to train and became very upset. She found herself in hosital because of the overwhelming pressure she didn’t know how to deal with.

Ready To Explode

With all the difficulties going on around and inside Nadia, she somehow managed to hold it all inside, but not without others misinterpreting her silence. Gymnasts and commentators occasionally remarked that she was “emotionless”. When Nadia heard of this, she said, “Nobody knows what was inside… I’m human.”

Return Of The Károlyis

The negative effect of Béla’s absence was becoming worrying to everyone, including Romanian sporting officials. After much debate, it was decided that Béla Károlyi would return to Nadia and become her coach once again. They understood how important this move was.

Going To Russia

Nadia and Béla didn’t have too much time to prepare for the games in Moscow – 5 weeks in total – but they were going to take part, no matter what. It was also the first international appearance that Nadia made since getting her coach back. The Russians were worried about the Romanian star outshining and outdoing the Soviet athletes.

Hecklers In The Crowd

She took to the balance beam and performed as best she could. In the crowd were unruly and noisy Russian soldiers who wanted to see Nadia fail, so they shouted, “Fall, Nadia! Fall!” Despite the disturbances from the stands, Nadia didn’t even hear them since she was focused on her performance. At the end of the competition she went home with two golds and two silvers.

Problems With Scoring

When she finished her performance, the judges huddled together to produce her score. Everyone waited impatiently, and tension started to rise, especially inside her coach, Béla Károlyi. When the scores came up, they were lower than everyone expected and Béla made a loud and vicious protest which was televised. The Romanian president’s office claimed that the protest embarrassed Romania’s honor. Béla started to fear for his life once he returned.

The Guise

Her coach took Nadia and other young gymnasts from Romania to the U.S. in 1981 as part of a promotional tour called “Nadia 81′”. It was more than just a tour for her coach. He took the opportunity to save his own life and defected to the United States. He was worried about his safety and this was his only way to safety. His defection played a negative effect on Nadia.

Nowhere To Turn

The Romanian government worried that Nadia would try to follow in her coach’s footsteps and defect too, so they took on their own measures to prevent her from doing so. Nadia was only allowed to fly out of the country on very few occasions and only for sporting events which she was under strict supervision for. The government took it upon themselves to check her letters and listen to her calls.

Enough Is Enough

After competing in several other competitions, both locally and abroad, Nadia decided that she was ready to retire. Despite a lot of noise from the Romanian government, she successfully retired in 1984. It wasn’t the end of the gymnastic road for her; she went on to become one of the national coaches for Romania.

Los Angeles 1984

At the Summer Olympics of 1984 in Los Angeles, Nadia was sent as an observer of the games. She did a lot of observing, but the most difficult observation she made was of her former coach, Béla Károlyi, mentoring another gymnast across the arena, who also happened to be an American.

Mary Lou Retton

The gymnast who was now under his watch, was Mary Lou Retton. Retton was born in West Virginia on 24 January, 1968. In 1976, she watched Nadia Comăneci dominate the games in Montreal and immediately felt inspired by the Romanian star. When she heard that the Károlyis were living in Houston, Texas, she moved there and formally became on of their young trainees.

Head To Head

Mary Lou Retton delivered the message that Béla and Márta Károlyi were stellar trainers. She dominated the 1984 Olympics with her young and energetic excellence, and even outdid Romanian Ecaterina Szabo, which made her become the first female outside of Eastern Europe to win the individual all-around gold.

Just Out Of Reach

Nadia sat on the sidelines and witnessed Béla’s protégé take everyone’s full attention, and a collection of medals. However it wasn’t this that made her feel upset, there was something else. Nadia had been told by Romanian officials that she was forbidden from speaking with her former coach. Sitting only meters away from him, she contained her aching heart. Something needed to change.

Hope From A New Friend

The years passed and Nadia felt more and more trapped. Then at a party in 1987, she made a new friend by the name of Constantin Panait. He would play an important role in her life, both for better and worse.

A Risky Move

When they spoke, Panait explained that he had managed to defect to the U.S. and had American citizenship. He told her that he would be willing to help her escape since it was known that she wanted to leave Romania. This was a very tempting offer, but it did have its downfalls.

Difficult News

Nadia realized that if she wanted to go with Panait to America, she would have to leave her parents and her brother behind. Worrying that her mother might have a heart-attack from the news, she spoke with her younger brother first. He encouraged her to take the leap of faith, explaining that it was her destiny.

Miracles

In 1989, just weeks before the “Romanian Revolution”, their escape plan took them secretly through Hungary and Canada to America. Their journey wasn’t without danger. When they approached the Hungarian border, a pair of border patrolmen spotted the group attempting to leave, but when they noticed Nadia Comăneci, they let the fleeing group go.

An American Reception

It was a special day when Nadia successfully arrived in America. The press swarmed her with questions and cameras, but she didn’t care – she was just happy to have made the journey safely. Most Americans were happy to receive the Romanian star.

No Contact

When her former coach, Béla Károlyi heard that she had made it to America, he was ecstatic and wanted to see her. But no matter how many times he called, she didn’t return his calls. What neither Nadia nor her coach knew, was that Constantin Panait was preventing her from ever getting those calls.

The Secret

Once Nadia was living in America, she was somewhat of a mystery to the public. There was definitely something weird going on with her, and especially since she was spending a lot of time with Constantin Panait. What made their “friendship” even more strange was that he was married and they had been seen many times together staying at roadhouses and motels together. On one occasion, a reporter asked her about the two, to which replied with a tongue out and the words, “It’s a secret.”

The Truth

At a gathering with some friends, a close friend of Nadia’s, Alexandru Stefu, wanted to find out what was happening with her and Constantin so he pulled her aside. Nadia then went on to tell Stefu that Constantin had actually been keeping her from friends and was in some way “holding her hostage”. Stefu was fed up and set up a confrontation with both of them, but Constantin fled the country.

A Familiar Name

Before the party where Nadia confessed her secret to her old friend, Stefu, she was invited as a guest onto the Pat Sajak Show. But what she didn’t know, was that Bart Conner had heard about the show and he wanted to see her again.

They Meet Again

After the show had been underway for a good quarter of an hour, the crowd along with Nadia drew in their breath in surprise when Bart Conner suddenly appeared on the stage. He brought a large bouquet of flowers and as Nadia stood, he delivered a kiss from the past on her right cheek, and then another onto her left cheek.

Just Friends

Their reunion didn’t stop on the stage of the Pat Sajak Show, they started to go out a lot more after that. Nadia at first was suspicious of Bart’s intentions, but then she thought that he was just a friendly guy. Meanwhile, Bart had his heart set on her and before they knew it they were dating.

The Engagement

Their relationship suddenly felt natural as they had so much in common. Four years past and Bart popped the question to Nadia, and she emphatically answered “yes”.

The Wedding

They decided that their wedding should be held in Nadia’s home country, so they flew to Romania to get married in 1996. When they arrived in Bucharest, Nadia wasn’t sure how the population would receive her. She was happily surprised when she was met with smiles and cheers from the loving locals.

Holiday For The Masses

Not only did the crowds cheer for her, but they themselves enjoyed a day of holiday for the special occasion of Nadia’s wedding. The government even gave Nadia and Bart the former presidential palace in Bucharest as the venue for their special day.

A Royal Wedding

Their wedding was televised across the world for everyone to see. Commentators called the event, the “royal wedding of sport” as it caught the eyes of so many people worldwide. Their marriage was a colossal occasion.

Never-Ending Success

Nadia’s honors didn’t stop just then. In 1999, the International Association of Sports Writers listed her as one of the ‘25 Outstanding Sports People of the 20th Century’, whereas ABC News put her as one of the ‘100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century’.

Welcome To The World

In 2006, the couple welcomed a child to the world. Their son, Dylan Paul, brought their dream of becoming a family to real life. Isabelle Kumar hosted Nadia for an interview and asked her if she felt more American or more Romanian. She answered that she feels more Romanian, but that she is adopted by America.

Young Fame

As Dylan was growing up, his parents didn’t tell him about their Olympic fame. It wasn’t until one day when Dylan came back from kindergarten and said to his mother, “Do you know that you’re famous?” Nadia giggled and produced a collection of photographs to show her son.

Young Meets Old

10-year-old Dylan really attracted attention in 2016 after his mother, Nadia, posted a picture of him on Twitter. The picture showed Dylan alongside Marta Károlyi, the wife of Béla Károlyi. Seeing Nadia’s son with one of her coaches from when she was just six years old, brought a tear to any fans face.

Bringing Them Together

In 2016, another picture circulated on the internet that brought more smiles to fans’ faces. This picture, which was uploaded by Mary Lou Retton, showed herself with Nadia Comăneci and Béla Károlyi and a screaming caption that read: “Two of my heroes!” If there were any suspicions of hard feelings between the two retired athletes, this picture dispelled them.

Nadia Comăneci And The Obamas

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed Nadia Comăneci and husband Bart Conner to the White House in December, 2014. Their meeting was scheduled to take place just a few months before the 2015 Special Olympics.

The Special Olympics

Bart and Nadia are both very active in the Special Olympics. They dedicate their time to promoting the games by traveling worldwide to raise funds. Aside from the money, they also work as ambassadors by spreading the message of the Special Olympics to raise awareness and to change the perception of the athletes that take part.

Community Projects

Nadia is also an independent creator of her own projects. One such example is the “Nadia Comăneci Children’s Clinic” in Bucharest which she opened to provide cost-friendly medical and social services to Romanian children.

A Team Effort

Aside from the many projects that Nadia takes on alone, there are numerous that she works on together with her husband, Bart Conner. It’s not just the Special Olympics that gets their shared attention, the Muscular Dystrophy Association does too. The MDA provides research and services for people affected by neuromuscular disease.

Nadia Comăneci And Caitlyn Jenner

Bart Conner isn’t the only famous athlete from the 1976 Montreal Olympics who she is in touch with. In 2016 she met with Caitlyn Jenner who won several gold medals at the same Olympic Games. Jenner commented about their first ever meeting, “Gymnastics finished before Track and Field started, so I was already gone by the time she competed.”

Eternal Princesses

In 2015, Hollywood actress Katie Holmes directed a short film documenting the life of Nadia Comăneci. The movie was called, Eternal Princess and included Nadia’s husband, Bart Conner.

Common Ground

Many people asked why Katie Holmes decided to make the short about Nadia Comăneci, but what many people don’t know is that these two women have more in common than expected. They both rose to popularity and fame at a young age, experienced a roller-coaster of ups and downs in their young career, and were subjected to the likes of controlling male counterparts.

Nadia Comăneci And Arnold Schwarzenegger

Hollywood didn’t stop there for Nadia. While she was working out at her local gym, the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted her and asked her for some training tips. He captioned their picture on social media, “It is fantastic to get to the gym early and have an Olympic champion as your trainer – thanks Nadia Comaneci! 10 reps to honor the first perfect 10 score in the Olympics.”

Nadia Comăneci And Donald Trump

Leading up to the Special Olympics of 2008, Nadia had a marvelous idea to raise money for the games. She went on the famous TV show, The Apprentice which was hosted by Donald Trump. Unfortunately her team didn’t make it, but she was more than happy for having put herself up against the best in the name of charity. She said “I had great fun. I only did it because it was all for charity.”

Sharing Their Wisdom

Nadia and her husband, Bart Conner, continued to take part in the Olympics, only they did so from afar. During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, they shared their insights with the world by commentating on the gymnastic performances at the competition.

Behind The Scenes

Nadia and Bart did a different kind of commentating; a kind that was a little bit more personal and funny. The Olympic Committee set up a large screen, handed them headsets and microphones and then started rolling each of their performances at the Olympics from 1976 to 1984. After they had some laughs and a few personal jokes, they ended up giving each-other perfect “10” scores.

Lighting Up The Games

As the Summer Olympics of 2012 approached, Nadia was honored with the role of being one of the torch carriers for the games in London. She shared the momentous occasion with former basketball star, John Amaechi. When the two made it to the O2 arena’s roof, they smiled happily for the photographers who had come to capture the moment.

Leading up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Nadia shared the honor of carrying the Olympic torch with The pair carried the torch to the O2 Arena’s roof and posed for some pictures

Hometown Girl

Dedications to Nadia have been published in papers and projects for years. But one dedication is exceptionally special to Nadia because it is in her hometown. The “Memorial Nadia Comaneci Montreal” is small, but it represents the monumental achievements that she accomplished.

Her Book

Nadia published a book about her life in 2003. The book detailed the journey she endured and teaches many important lessons about motivation, self-respect and achieving the seemingly-impossible. Her biography also serves as a guide for other gymnasts.

Creating New Moves

In the gymnastics world, Nadia is not just known as the first gymnast to ever achieve a perfect 10 at the Olympics, she is also noted as a creator of new gymnastic moves. When she was asked about how she created her original moves, she answered that it just happened during practice.

Connecting The Dots

“What would you change about your life?” is what Nadia was asked in an interview. Her answer tells so much about how one should look at their life and the ups and downs that come with it. Regardless of the challenges that she faced, she says that she would never have changed anything. It was the influence of all these events that made her the person she is today. She calls it “connecting the dots”.

For Kids

When Nadia was asked about her take on sports and children, she said that she is a staunch supporter of sports for kids. “It gives them structure”, she said. We can understand this thinking since it was the structure of sports that directed Nadia to become the best gymnast of the Olympics of all time.

Real Life?

During an interview that revealed more about Nadia than many people had known, the interviewer asked her if she felt like her life resembled a fairytale. “I don’t want my life to be scripted, it becomes too cheesy. I brought motivation to my generation and the generation after me. You should never give up when it gets hard.”

The Next Generation

Nadia Comăneci hasn’t stopped influencing the world of gymnastics. She is a coach for young budding stars who have the same passion she has. She teaches them the basic motto she lives her life by: “I don’t run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.”