Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the Olympic Games. At the same Games (

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

) she received six more perfect 10s for events en route to winning three

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

. At the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Comăneci won two more gold medals and achieved two more perfect 10s. During her career Comăneci won nine Olympic medals and four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals. Comăneci is one of the world's best-known gymnasts and is credited with popularizing the sport around the globe. In 2000 she was named one of the Athletes of the 20th Century by the

Laureus World Sports Academy The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation foundin ...

. She has lived in the United States since 1989, when she defected from then-Communist Romania before its revolution in December that year. She later worked with and married American Olympic gold-medal gymnast

Bart Conner Bart Wayne Conner (born March 28, 1958) is a retired American Olympic gymnast. As a member of the US men's gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Conner won two gold medals. He owns and operates the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in N ...

, who set up his own school. In 2001 she became a naturalized

United States citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

and has

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

, having maintained her

Romanian citizenship The Romanian nationality law addresses specific rights, duties, privileges, and benefits between Romania and the individual. Romanian nationality law is based on '' jus sanguinis'' ("right of blood"). Current citizenship policy in Romania is in ...

Early life

Nadia Elena Comăneci was born on November 12, 1961, in

Onești Onești (; hu, Ónfalva) is a municipiu, city in Bacău County, Romania, with a population of 39,172 inhabitants. It is situated in the historical region of Western Moldavia, Moldavia. Administratively, the villages of Slobozia and Borzești ...

, a small town in the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

, in

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county the ...

, Romania, in the historical region of

Western Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova), also called Western Moldavia or Romanian Moldavia, is the historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1859, the Pr ...

. She was born to Gheorghe (1936–2012) and Ștefania Comăneci, and has a younger brother. Her parents separated in the 1970s and her father later moved to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, the capital. She and her brother, Adrian, were raised in the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...

. In a 2011 interview Nadia's mother said that she enrolled her daughter into gymnastics classes because as a child she was so full of energy and active that she was difficult to manage. After years of top-level athletic competition Comăneci graduated from

Politehnica University of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Politehnica din București) is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania. 200 years of activity have been celebrated lately, as the university was founded in 1818.sports education, which qualified her to coach gymnastics.

Early gymnastics career

Comăneci began gymnastics in kindergarten with a local team called ''Flacăra'' ("The Flame"), with coaches Duncan and Munteanu. At age 6, she was chosen to attend

Béla Károlyi Béla Károlyi (; born September 13, 1942) is an ethnic Hungarian Romanian-American gymnastics coach. Early in his coaching career he developed the Romanian centralised training system for gymnastics. One of his earliest protégés was Nadia C ...

's experimental gymnastics school after Károlyi spotted her and a friend turning cartwheels in a schoolyard.Comăneci, pp. 17–19.Deford, Frank
"Nadia Awed Ya"
''Sports Illustrated. '' August 2, 1976. Károlyi was looking for gymnasts he could train from a young age. When recess ended, the girls quickly went inside and Károlyi went around the classrooms trying to find them; he eventually spotted Comăneci. (The other girl, Viorica Dumitru, developed in a different direction and became one of Romania's top

ballerinas A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

.) By 1968, when she was seven, Comăneci started training with

Károlyi Károlyi is the name of a Hungarian noble family and a surname, and may refer to: * Károlyi family ** Alexander Károlyi (1668–1743), first count ** Alajos Károlyi (1825–1899), Austro-Hungarian count ** Gyula Károlyi (1871–1947), former ...

. She was one of the first students at the gymnastics school established in Onești by Béla and his wife, Márta. As a resident of the town, Comăneci was able to live at home for many years; most of the other students boarded at the school. In 1970 Comăneci began competing as a member of her home town team and, at age nine, became the youngest gymnast ever to win the Romanian Nationals. In 1971 she participated in her first international competition, a dual junior meet between Romania and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, winning her first

all-around The All-Around is an award given to a rodeo competitor who is most successful in two or more events. Most individual rodeos and championships determine the winner of this award at the conclusion of the other events or championships. Championship ...

title and contributing to the team

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. For the next few years she competed as a junior in numerous national contests in Romania and dual meets with countries such as

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

.List of competitive results
Gymn-Forum At the age of 11, in 1973, she won the all-around gold, as well as the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

and

uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...

titles, at the Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba), an important international meet for junior gymnasts. Comăneci's first major international success came at the age of 13, when she nearly swept the board at the 1975

European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships The European Women's Gymnastics Championships are an artistic championships for female gymnasts from European countries organised by the European Union of Gymnastics. They are held annually, though rotate between two different formats. History ...

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsj ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. She won the all-around and gold medals in every event but the

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

, in which she was placed second. She continued to enjoy success that year, winning the all-around at the ‘Champions All’ competition and coming first in the all-around, vault,

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

and bars at the Romanian National Championships. In the pre-Olympic test event in

Comăneci won the all-around and the balance beam golds as well as silvers in the vault, floor and bars. Accomplished Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim won the golds in those events and was one of Comăneci's greatest rivals for the next five years.

1976

American Cup

In March 1976, Comăneci competed in the inaugural edition of the

American Cup The American Cup (also known as the American Football Association Cup and the American Federation Cup) was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1885. In the 1910s, it gradually dec ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

in Manhattan. She received rare scores of 10, which signified a perfect routine without any deductions, for her vault in the preliminary stage and for her floor exercise routine in the final of the all-around competition, which she won. During this competition, Comăneci met American gymnast

for the first time. While he remembered this meeting, Comăneci noted in her memoirs that she had to be reminded of it later in life. She was 14 and Conner was celebrating his 18th birthday. They both won a silver cup and were photographed together. A few months later, they participated in the

that Comăneci dominated, while Conner was a marginal figure. Conner later said, "Nobody knew me, and omănecicertainly didn't pay attention to me."

Summer Olympics in Montreal

On July 18, 1976, Comăneci made history at the Montreal Olympics. During the team compulsory portion of the competition, she was awarded the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics for her routine on the

Omega SA Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''La Generale Watch Co.'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ...

, the official Olympics scoreboard manufacturer, had been led to believe that competitors could not receive a perfect ten, and had not programmed the scoreboard to display this score. Comăneci's perfect 10 thus appeared as "1.00," the only means by which the judges could indicate that she had received a 10. During the remainder of the Montreal Games, Comăneci earned six additional "10s". She won gold medals for the individual all-around, the balance beam and

. She also won a bronze for the

and a silver as part of the team all-around.Legends: Nadia Comăneci
''International Gymnast'' magazine

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

gymnast Nellie Kim was her main rival during the Montreal Olympics; Kim became the second gymnast to receive a perfect ten, in her case for her performance on the vault. Comăneci took over the media spotlight from gymnast

Olga Korbut Olga Valentinovna Korbut, ; russian: Ольга Валентиновна Корбут, group=nb (born 16 May 1955) is a former gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the "Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silver ...

, who had been the darling of the 1972 Munich Games. Comăneci's achievements are pictured in the entrance area of Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, where she is shown presenting her perfect beam exercise. Comăneci was the first Romanian gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title. She also holds the record as the youngest ever Olympic gymnastics all-around champion at age 14. The sport has since raised its age-eligibility requirements so that gymnasts must be at least 16 in the same calendar year of the Olympics in order to compete. When Comăneci competed in 1976, gymnasts had only to be 14 by the first day of the competition. Unless the age of eligibility is lowered, Comăneci's record cannot be broken. She was ranked as the

BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year The BBC World Sport Star of the Year (formerly known as the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year) is an award presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. The award is presented to a non-British sportsperson c ...

for 1976 and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

's 1976 " Female Athlete of the Year". Back home in Romania, Comăneci was awarded the

Sickle and Hammer The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industria ...

Gold Medal for her success, and she was named a

Hero of Socialist Labor The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

. She was the youngest Romanian to receive such recognition during the administration of

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

"Nadia's Theme"

Nadia's Theme "Nadia's Theme", originally titled "Cotton's Dream", is a piece of music composed by Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin Jr. in 1971. It was originally used as incidental music for the 1971 film '' Bless the Beasts and Children'', and is better kn ...

" refers to an instrumental piece that became linked to Comăneci shortly after the 1976 Olympics. It was part of the musical score of the 1971 film '' Bless the Beasts and Children'' and originally titled "Cotton's Dream". It was also used as the title theme music for the American soap opera ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

''.

Robert Riger Robert Riger (June 4, 1924 – May 19, 1995) was an American sports illustrator, photographer, award-winning television director, and cinematographer. John Szarkowski, former director of the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art, said ...

used it in association with slow-motion montages of Comăneci on the television program ''

ABC's Wide World Of Sports ''ABC's Wide World of Sports'' is an American sports anthology television program that aired on ABC from April 29, 1961 to January 3, 1998, primarily on Saturday afternoons. Hosted by Jim McKay, with a succession of co-hosts beginning in 198 ...

''. The song became a top-10 single in the fall of 1976, and composers

Barry De Vorzon Barry De Vorzon (born July 31, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and composer. His earliest hit compositions were "Just Married" (1958), written with Al Allen and recorded by Marty Robbins, which reached number 26 on ''Billboar ...

and

Perry Botkin Jr. Perry Botkin Jr. (April 16, 1933 – January 18, 2021) was an American composer, producer, arranger, and musician. The tune " Nadia's Theme", composed by Botkin and Barry De Vorzon, peaked at No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1976 and bec ...

renamed it as "Nadia's Theme" in Comăneci's honor. Comăneci never performed to "Nadia's Theme", however. Her floor exercise music was a medley of the songs " Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and "

Jump in the Line "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)" is a calypso song composed by Lord Kitchener and best known from a version recorded by vocalist Harry Belafonte in 1961. Later renditions Woody Herman and his Third Herd recorded Kitchener's song in 1952 for Ma ...

," arranged for piano.

1977–1979

Comăneci successfully defended her European all-around title at the championship competition in 1977. When questions were raised at the competition about the scoring, Ceaușescu ordered the Romanian gymnasts to return home. The team followed orders amid controversy and walked out of the competition during the event finals. Following the 1977 Europeans, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation removed Comăneci from her longtime coaches, the Károlyis, and sent her to

on August 23 to train at the sports complex. She did not find this change positive and was struggling with bodily changes as she grew older. Her gymnastics skills suffered, and she was unhappy to the point of losing the desire to live. After surviving a suicide attempt, Comăneci competed in the 1978 World Championships in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

"seven inches taller and a stone and a half 1 poundsheavier" than she was in the 1976 Olympics. A fall from the uneven bars resulted in a fourth-place finish in the all-around behind Soviets

Elena Mukhina Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina (russian: Елена Вячеславовна Мухина; first name sometimes rendered "Yelena", last name sometimes rendered "Muchina"; 1 June 196022 December 2006) was a Soviet gymnast who won the all-around t ...

, Nellie Kim, and

Natalia Shaposhnikova Natalia Vitalyevna Shaposhnikova (russian: Наталья Витальевна Шапошникова; born 24 June 1961, in Rostov-on-Don), married name Natalia Sout, is a former Soviet artistic gymnast, two-time Olympic champion, and Honoured Ma ...

. Comăneci did win the world title on beam, and a silver on vault. After the 1978 "Worlds", Comăneci was permitted to return to Deva and the Károlyis' school. In 1979, Comăneci won her third consecutive European all-around title, becoming the first gymnast, male or female, to achieve this feat. At the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

that December, Comăneci led the field after the compulsory competition. She was hospitalized before the optional portion of the team competition for blood poisoning, which had resulted from a cut in her wrist from her metal grip buckle. Against doctors' orders, she left the hospital and competed on the beam, where she scored a 9.95. Her performance helped give the Romanians their first team gold medal. After her performance, Comăneci spent several days recovering in All Saints Hospital. She had to undergo a minor surgical procedure for the infected hand, which had developed an

abscess An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pressed. The area of redness often extends b ...

1980–1984

1980 Summer Olympics

Comăneci was chosen to participate in the

. As a result of the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

President Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

declared that the United States would boycott the Olympics (several other countries also participated in the boycott, though their reasons varied). According to Comăneci, the Romanian government "touted the 1980 Olympic games as the first all-Communist Games." However, she also noted in her memoir, "in Moscow, we walked into the mouth of a lion's den; it was the Russians' home turf." She won two gold medals, one for the

balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...

and one for the

(in which she tied with Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim, against whom she had also competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and other events). She also won two silver medals, one for the team all-around and one for individual all-around. Controversies arose concerning the scoring in the all-around and floor exercise competitions. As of the 2020 Summer Games, she is the only gymnast to defend her Olympic gold medal in the balance beam apparatus. Her coach, Bela Károlyi, protested that she was scored unfairly. His protests were captured on television. According to Comăneci's memoir, the Romanian government was upset about Károlyi's public behavior, feeling that he had humiliated them. Life became very difficult for Károlyi from that point on.

"Nadia '81"

In 1981, the Gymnastics Federation contacted Comăneci and informed her that she would be part of an official tour of the United States named "Nadia '81" and her coaches Béla and Márta Károlyi would lead the group. During this tour, Comăneci's team shared a bus trip with American gymnasts; it was the third time she had encountered Bart Conner. They had earlier met in 1976. She later remembered thinking, "Conner was cute. He bounced around the bus talking to everyone—he was incredibly friendly and fun." Her coaches Béla and Márta Károlyi

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

on the last day of the tour, along with the Romanian team choreographer Géza Pozsár. Prior to defecting, Károlyi hinted a few times to Comăneci that he might attempt to do so and indirectly asked if she wanted to join him. At that time, she had no interest in defecting, and said she wanted to go home to Romania. After the defection of the Károlyis, life changed drastically for Comăneci in Romania, as she could not have predicted. Officials feared that she would also defect. Feeling she was a national asset, they strictly monitored her actions, refusing to allow her to travel outside the country.

1984 Summer Olympics

The government did allow Comăneci to participate in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

as part of the Romanian delegation. Although a number of Communist nations boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in a

tit-for-tat Tit for tat is an English saying meaning "equivalent retaliation". It developed from "tip for tap", first recorded in 1558. It is also a highly effective strategy in game theory. An agent using this strategy will first cooperate, then subseque ...

against the U.S.-led boycott of the Olympics in Moscow four years before, Romania chose to participate. Comăneci later wrote in her memoir that many believed Romania went to the Olympics because an agreement had been made with the United States not to accept defectors. But Comăneci did not participate in the Games as a member of the Romanian team; she served as an observer. She was able to see Károlyi's new protégé, American gymnast

Mary Lou Retton Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Her performanc ...

, who dominated the Olympics. The Romanian delegation did not allow her to talk with Károlyi and closely watched her the entire time.

1984–1990

The Romanian government continued to restrict Comăneci from leaving Romania, aside from a few select trips to Moscow and Cuba. She had started thinking about retiring a few years earlier, but her official retirement ceremony took place in Bucharest in 1984. It was attended by the chairman of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. Comăneci later wrote in her memoir:

Life took on a new bleakness. I was cut off from making the small amount of extra money that had really made a difference in my family's life. It was also insulting that a normal person in Romania had the chance to travel, whereas I could not…. when my gymnastics career was over, there was no longer any need to keep me happy. I was to do as I was instructed, just as I'd done my entire life…. If
Bela Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal *Bela, Janakpur ...
hadn't defected, I would still have been watched, but his defection brought a spotlight on my life, and it was blinding. I started to feel like a prisoner.Comăneci, p. 121.

On the night of November 27, 1989, a few weeks before the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

, Comăneci defected with a group of other Romanians, crossing the

Hungary–Romania border The Hungary–Romania border is the state border between Hungary and Romania. It was established in 1920 by an international commission (the "Lord Commission") presided over by geographers including Emmanuel de Martonne and Robert Ficheux, and ...

around

Cenad Cenad ( hu, Nagycsanád, during the Dark Ages ''Marosvár''; german: Tschanad; sr, Чанад, Čanad; la, Chanadinum) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Cenad. The village serves as a customs point on t ...

. They were guided by Constantin Panait, a Romanian who later became an American citizen after defecting. Their journey was mostly on foot and at night. They traveled through

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and finally were able to take a plane to the United States.

1990–present

Comăneci moved to Oklahoma in 1991 to help her friend Bart Conner, another Olympic gold medalist, with his gymnastics school. She lived with the family of Paul Ziert and eventually hired him as her manager. Comăneci and Conner initially were just friends. They were together for four years before they became engaged. For every year since 1994, the Nadia Comăneci International Invitational has welcomed gymnasts ranging from USAG level 4 to level 10. The competition has also hosted international elite competition in the mid-2010s, with

Rebeca Andrade Rebeca Rodrigues de Andrade (born 8 May 1999) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic and 2021 World champion on the vault and 2022 World all-around champion. Andrade is the first Brazilian female gymnast to medal at an Olym ...

being a notable attendee in 2013 among others. She returned to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

for their 1996 wedding, which was held in

. This was after the fall of the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

and the establishment of a capitalist Romania; the government welcomed her as a national hero. The wedding was televised live throughout Romania, and the couple's reception was held in the former presidential palace. On May 18, 1997, Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner guest-starred on the Season 3 finale of ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...

'' where they performed a brief floor exercise within a montage scene. Comăneci became a naturalized US citizen in 2001, while retaining her Romanian citizenship. In 2006, the couple's son Dylan was born. She was the featured speaker at the 50th annual Independence Day Naturalization Ceremony on July 4, 2012, at

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

, the first athlete invited to speak in the history of the ceremony. In October 2017, an area in the

Olympic Park An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics ...

in Montreal was renamed "Place Nadia Comaneci" in her honor.

Leadership roles

Comăneci is a well-known figure in the world of gymnastics; she serves as the honorary president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, the honorary president of the Romanian Olympic Committee, the sports ambassador of Romania, and as a member of the International Gymnastics Federation Foundation. She and Conner own the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy, the Perfect 10 Production Company, and several sports equipment shops, and are the editors of ''

International Gymnast Magazine ''International Gymnast Magazine'', often shortened to ''IG'', is an American sports magazine about gymnastics and the first gymnastics publication. The editor of the magazine is Paul Ziert, former Oklahoma Sooners gymnastics coach. Ziert's Okla ...

''. She is also still involved with the Olympic Games. During the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, one of her perfect-10 Montreal uneven bars routines was featured in a commercial for

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

. In addition, both Comăneci and her husband Bart Conner provided television commentary for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. A few years later, on July 21, 2012, Comăneci, along with former basketball star

John Amaechi John Uzoma Ekwugha Amaechi , Order of the British Empire, OBE (; born 26 November 1970) is a British-American psychologist, consultant and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Vanderbilt Commodores men's baske ...

, carried the Olympic torch to the roof of the O2 Arena as part of the torch relay for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Prior to the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Comăneci appeared in a TIDE advertisement called "The Evolution of Power" with

Simone Biles Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...

and three-time Olympic gymnast

Dominique Dawes Dominique Margaux Dawes (born November 20, 1976) is a retired American artistic gymnast. Known in the gymnastics community as 'Awesome Dawesome', she was a 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, the 1994 U.S. all-around senior Nati ...

. She also offered daily analysis of the 2016 games (along with other Olympic champions such as

Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, each in world-record ti ...

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996, ...

, and Conner), for the late-night show ''É Campeão,'' broadcast on Brazil's

SporTV SporTV is a Brazilian pay television sports network owned by Canais Globo, part of Grupo Globo, launched in 1991. It is the most watched sports network in Brazil. On January 18, 2013, were launched High-definition simulcasts of SporTV and ...

. In addition, Comăneci is highly involved in fundraising for a number of charities. She personally funded the construction and operation of the Nadia Comăneci Children's Clinic in Bucharest that provides low-cost and free medical and social support to Romanian children. In 2003, the Romanian government appointed her as an honorary consul general of Romania to the United States to deal with bilateral relations between the two nations.Honorary Consulates of Romania in the US
Retrieved July 31, 2012. In addition, both Comăneci and Conner are involved with the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

. To raise money for charity, Comăneci participated in

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

, ''The Celebrity Apprentice'', season seven. Comăneci was a member of "The Empresario" team (all women), which lost to "The Hydra" team (all men) in the second episode. Trump responded to this loss by firing Comăneci, thwarting her plan for raising money. Comăneci later commented on her participation in the show, saying she "had great fun. I only did it because it was all for charity."

Honors and awards

* 1975 and 1976: The

United Press International Athlete of the Year Award The United Press International Athlete of the Year Award was conferred annually between 1974 and 1995, one each to the individuals adjudged, without restriction to nationality or sport contested, to be the male and female ''athlete of the year'' by ...

* 1976:

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

* 1976:

Associated Press Athlete of the Year The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press (AP) in 1931. At a time when women in sports were not given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to ...

* 1976:

* 1983: The Olympic Order * 1990:

International Women's Sports Hall of Fame This is a list of female sports athletes who have been inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame, which recognizes the athletic and coaching achievements of women. Selections are made worldwide and are based on achievements, brea ...

* 1993:

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics. The early IGHO ...

* 1998:

Marca Leyenda ''Marca'' Leyenda (''Marca'' legend) is an award given by the Spanish sports newspaper '' Marca'' to the best sport professionals in history. Since its inception in 1997 over 80 people have received this award. List of winners References {{Refl ...

* 1998:

Flo Hyman Award The Flo Hyman Memorial Award was conferred annually between 1987 and 2004 by the Women's Sports Foundation in Washington, D.C., United States, on the organization's National Girls and Women in Sports Day to the female sportsperson, irrespective of n ...

* 2004: The

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Traditi ...

* 2016: Great Immigrant Honoree:

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

* 2017: She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2017. * 2021:

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

, Grand Officer

Skills

Comăneci was known for her clean technique, innovative and difficult original skills, and her stoic, cool demeanor in competition."A Great Leap Backward"
Anita Verschoth, ''Sports Illustrated,'' April 12, 1976. On the balance beam, she was the first gymnast to successfully perform an aerial cartwheel-back

handspring Handspring may refer to: *Handspring (company), a company that made personal digital assistants *Handspring (gymnastics), a gymnastics move involving forward or backward rotation of the body *Rising handspring or nip-up, an acrobatic transition fr ...

series. She is also credited as being the first gymnast to perform a double-twist

dismount Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sho ...

. Her skills on the floor exercise included a tucked double back salto and a double twist. Comăneci has two eponymous uneven bars skills listed in the Code of Points, the Comăneci salto and the Comăneci dismount.

Competitive History

Book and films

* Comăneci's 2004 memoir, ''Letters to a Young Gymnast'', is part of the ''

Art of Mentoring The ''Art of Mentoring'' series is a series of books published by Basic Books from 2001 to 2008, beginning with Alan Dershowitz's ''Letters to a Young Lawyer'' and Christopher Hitchens' ''Letters to a Young Contrarian''. The books were all titled ...

'' series by Basic Books. * Katie Holmes directed a short 2015 documentary for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

about Comăneci entitled ''Eternal Princess'' that premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

. * In 2016,

Arte France Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

produced a Pola Rapaport documentary about Comăneci entitled ''Nadia Comăneci, la gymnast et le dictateur'' (Nadia Comăneci: The Gymnast and the Dictator). * In 1984, Comăneci was the subject of a biopic television film, ''

Nadia Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: Uk ...

.'' The film was developed without her involvement (although the content was described to her by others). She later stated publicly that the producers never made contact with her: "I sincerely don't even want to see it; I feel so badly about it. It distorts my life so totally." * In 2012,

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

chose Comăneci to dub Granny Norma in Romanian in the animated movie ''

The Lorax ''The Lorax'' is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, the titular character, who "speaks for the trees" and confronts the Once-ler, a business magnate who cause ...

''. * In 2021, Stejărel Olaru published in Romanian a biographical volume, ''Nadia și Securitatea (Nadia and the Securitate)'', at Epica Publishing House.

References

Citations

Cited sources

External links

* * *
Voices of Oklahoma interview with Bart Conner.
First person interview conducted on February 28, 2013, with Bart Conner, husband of Nadia Comăneci. Video clips:
Nadia Comăneci makes history at the Montreal 1976 Olympics
– The Olympic Channel, 2010
Nadia Comăneci – First Olympics Perfect 10 (Uneven Bars)- Montreal 1976 Olympics
– The Olympic Channel, 2015
Nadia Comăneci – Selections from all of her routines – Montreal 1976 Olympics (overview)
– The Olympic Channel, 2012
The Adorable Way This Olympic Couple First Met , Where Are They Now , Oprah Winfrey Network
–

Oprah Winfrey Network (U.S. TV channel) Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable channel jointly owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios that launched on January 1, 2011, replacing the Discovery Health Channel. The network is led by talk show h ...

, 2016
Nadia Comaneci & Bart Conner Commentate on Their Perfect Olympic Routines , Take the Mic
– The Olympic Channel, 2016
Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner, 11 Olympic Medals in this Olympic Family
– The Olympic Channel, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Comaneci, Nadia 1961 births Living people BBC 100 Women Defectors to the United States Gymnasts at the 1976 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania Olympic gymnasts of Romania Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics People from Onești People of the Cold War People with acquired American citizenship Recipients of the Olympic Order Romanian defectors Romanian emigrants to the United States Romanian female artistic gymnasts Romanian gymnastics coaches Special Olympics Universiade medalists in gymnastics World champion gymnasts BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners Universiade gold medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in gymnastics The Apprentice (franchise) contestants Participants in American reality television series Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade European champions in gymnastics

Early life

Early gymnastics career

1976

American Cup

Summer Olympics in Montreal

"Nadia's Theme"

1977–1979

1980–1984

1980 Summer Olympics

"Nadia '81"

1984 Summer Olympics

1984–1990

1990–present

Leadership roles

Honors and awards

Skills

Competitive History

Book and films

See also

References

Citations

Cited sources

Further reading

External links