Nadia Elena Comaneci (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian female gymnast currently living in the United States. She has won five Olympic gold medals and is the first person to score a perfect 10 points in Olympic gymnastics. The international press has voted her one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century and one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, and she is also known as the "Queen of Gymnastics".
Comaneci in 1977
Comaneci was born in the Romanian municipality of Giorgio Ou-Dezhi (now known as Oneşti) and began competing nationally in Romania in 1970. Soon she was trained by two coaches, Carroy Bella and his wife (who later absconded to the United States and became coaches for many great American gymnasts).
Comaneci won three gold medals and one silver at the 1975 European Championships in Squien, Norway, when she was 13 years old. At the warm-up event at the 1975 Montreal Olympics, Comaneci won the all-around title. That same year, the Associated Press named her "Athlete of the Year."
Comaneci
In 1976, at the age of 14, Comaneci became a star at the Montreal Summer Olympics. Not only did she become the first athlete to score a perfect 10 points at the Olympics, she also won three gold medals (individual all-around, balance beam and uneven bars), one silver medal (team all-around) and one bronze medal (floor exercise). Upon her return she was awarded the title of "Hero of Socialist Labor", the youngest person in Romania to receive this title. In August 1976, Comaneci appeared on the cover of the most famous international magazines Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated, becoming the only person in the world to receive such an honor to date.
Comaneci on a stamp
In 1977, Comaneci successfully defended his European all-around title, but the Romanian gymnastics team withdrew from the competition to protest the unfair scoring in the final. In 1979 Comaneci won three consecutive European Championships in all-around (1975, 1977 and 1979), becoming the first person in the history of the European Championships to win the European Championships in a three-time consecution.
At the 1978 World Championships, Comaneci lost his hand on the uneven bars and finished fourth, but still won the balance beam gold medal. In 1979, Comaneci won the European All-Around Championship for the third time (he was the first gymnast to win three consecutive titles). At the World Championships in December, Comaneci was forced to hospitalize due to a scratch on a metal buckle. She risked her life despite her doctor's advice and was discharged from the hospital to compete in the balance beam competition, scoring 9.95 points. At this World Championships, Romania won its first team gold medal.
In 1980, Comaneci competed at the Summer Olympics in Moscow, where she made a serious mistake in the uneven bars event in the women's individual all-around final. In the final balance beam race, Comaneci had to score 9.95 points to successfully defend the women's individual all-around title, and when Comaneci finished the match, the referee argued fiercely for more than half an hour over the rating. With 9.85 points, the final host Yelena Davydova won the women's individual all-around title, while Comaneci finished second. Comaneci defended his balance beam title and floor exercise tied for first place, becoming the winner of the most gold medals in gymnastics at the time. Romania finished second.
Comaneci 1980
Comaneci won five gold medals at the 1981 Universiade in Bucharest. In May 1984, Comaneci officially announced her retirement, and IOC President Samaranch personally attended and awarded her the Olympic Council's highest honor, the Olympic Silver Medal. In 2004, IOC President Rogge personally awarded Comaneci the Olympic Silver Medal, making Comaneci the only person in the world to have twice won the Olympic Silver Medal.
After retiring from football, Comaneci entered the Bucharest Sports Institute, after which he became the coach of the Romanian national gymnastics team. In November 1989, Comaneci fled to the United States via Hungary. In 1994 she became engaged to American athlete Bart Connor. Comaneci and Connor married in Romania in April 1996.
Mr. and Mrs. Comaneci
On June 29, 2001, she became a citizen of the United States. She holds both Romanian and American citizenship. Comaneci is also a sports ambassador appointed by the Romanian government and holds an international passport with ambassadorial privileges.
In 2003, her first book, Letters to Young Gymnasts, was published. Comaneci has raised a children's clinic in Bucharest to help orphans and underprivileged children in Romania.
Comaneci
On June 3, 2006, she and Bart Connor's first child, Dylan Paul Conner, was born.
In 2007, Comaneci announced the establishment of the "Comaneci Foundation", a charitable fund for Romanian children and women.
At the 2008 Shanghai Special Olympics, Comaneci was honored with the Special Olympics Spirit Award – Athlete.
Comaneci in 2012