When it comes to Eastern European countries, it seems as though the men and women who live there have a knack for sports - and gymnastics, in particular. But out of all of Eastern Europe’s proud athletic heritage, there isn't a more famous gymnast than the one and only Nadia Comăneci from Romania. The first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10/10 score in the Olympics, Nadia boasts 5 separate Olympic Gold Medals - but her rise to fame is almost as exciting as her athletic achievements. Let’s take a look at this unique woman’s story on yourdailysportfix.
Beginning in Romania
Nadia was born in a Carpathian town called Onesti, in Romania. Back when she was a child, she says she was always hyperactive and full of energy, so her mother decided to enroll her in gymnastics classes. She thought that this will only make the little Nadia more tired, but it actually had the opposite effect. Nadia was so enthralled with the sport that she would practice, jumping, running around and moving about any chance she got. Her mother couldn’t get her tired - but she made her fall in love with the sport.
Slowly climbing
As soon as she started her first lesson, Nadia knew that she had found her life’s calling. The summersaults, a very difficult routine, and the exhausting practice sessions were things Nadia loved ever since she was in kindergarten. What started as a childhood infatuation ended up as dream come true, and Nadia knew, even at that young age, that she would be a gymnast for life. It’s rare to find your vocation so early on, so those who do are extremely lucky for the head start they’ve received.
Encounter with Bela Károlyi
When Nadia was little, she was doing cartwheels and all sorts of tricks with her friends. A strange twist of fate had the renowned Romanian gymnastics coach, Bela Károlyi, passing by. He and his wife were always looking to promote the sport and hone young, promising talents. The young Nadia, whose natural aptitude and physical abilities shone through even in her unrestrained playing with friends, fit the bill perfectly. Károlyi took notice immediately and the path for making sport history was set.
Not giving up
Bela and Nadia were training 3 hours a day, every day. Fortunately for her, Bela’s school was right near Nadia's house, so she didn’t have to commute a lot. He always encouraged her, even when things weren’t going so well. Nadia didn’t fare so well at her first amateur competitions, as she fell a lot - but Bela had faith in her, and as she continued to train, her form improved drastically, and she began to land gracefully and with ease.
First competition
Nadia’s first competition was the Romanian National Junior Championships in 1969. Believe it or not, she was only seven years old when she competed. However, she only placed 13th. Despite her low ranking, the failure only seemed to motivate her more. Nadia went back to train harder than ever, and the next year, when she was just eight, she placed first, blowing away the competition and winning first place in the most spectacular fashion imaginable.
Senior eligibility
In 1975, Nadia turned 14 and was finally able to go to senior competitions. As soon as she was unleashed upon the senior competition world, she won five medals at the European Championships as well as the American tandem cup, but this was only a warm-up. Nadia had her eyes set on a bigger prize: she was aiming for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. With explosive talent like hers, the whole world was holding its breath to see what she'd have in store at the highest arena of competition in the world.
The kiss with Bart
In March 1976, Comăneci competed in the inaugural edition of the American Cup at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. As the 14 year old Nadia was going to the podium to collect her silver, a photographer urged the blond American boy beside her to lean in for a kiss. Bart Conner, the 18-year-old American gymnast, happily obliged. And while this could have ended differently, the two athletes felt an immediate connection, which would only grow stronger from that moment on.
The Road to Montreal
By July 1976, Nadia was ready and willing to dominate her first Olympic games ever. By this time, the international gymnastics community was starting to take notice of her, but despite her new-found recognition, nobody could predict what she would accomplish then. Not even Nadia could foresee how the competition would turn out, and despite her confidence in herself, she was still quite anxious and wary of the events to come. But when the events finally started, it was clear to all that something exceptional was taking place. In the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, Nadia Comăneci made history.
The elusive 10
As they perform their routines, gymnasts are rated from one to 10 - but no gymnast had ever received a perfect ten in the Olympic Games. No gymnast, that is, until Nadia arrived. As Nadia executed her first gymnastic routine, people were stunned. The judges were slack jawed and the audience went crazy. Nadia's execution was simply flawless, and the judges had no choice but to grant her a historic perfect ten. But that wasn't enough for Nadia -during that competition, she would go on to rack up six more perfect tens.
Getting a theme song
After her stunning performance at the Olympics, Nadia's worldwide popularity soared. When sports reporter Robert Riger presented a series of slow-motion montages of Nadia on the television program ABC's Wide World Of Sports, he played them with the theme "Cotton's Dream from the film Bless the Beasts and the Children. The segment was aired over and over, and the piece came to be known as “Nadia’s Theme.” The song became a top-10 single in the fall of 1976, and was officially renamed “Nadia’s Theme” by its composers.
An explosion of popularity
Nadia took the gymnastics world by storm. She was named the BBC’s “Overseas Sports Personality and the Female Athlete of the Year” in 1976 and her photo was ever featured on the cover of Time magazine - a big, big honour. Back home, Nadia was made a national hero, and the Romanian government showered her with gifts and honours. It seemed like the world was her oyster, but all good things must come to an end. Soon, things would begin to unravel.
Things started going downhill
From the public perspective, Nadia was living the perfect life. Behind the scenes, however, everything started falling apart. Her parents were fighting a lot and in the midst of getting a divorce, and the public attention was getting to her. No child wants their parents to split up, especially not when the whole world is watching. On top of all that, she had to stop training with her beloved trainer Bela, and was urged to find a new coach. It was tough.
Suicide attempt
At 15, Nadia was feeling trapped and controlled. The pressures of training, international media attention, and government involvement with her life were getting to her - and that, on top of being a teenager, made her feel like she just couldn’t take it anymore. In an act of desperation, she tried to take her own life - but fortunately, the attempt was a futile one. Following the traumatic event, Romanian officials once again assigned her to Bela for training, and a modicum of normality was restored.
Puberty hits
As puberty hit, the Romanian government urged Nadia to take a break from the sport, since gymnasts are generally better performers when they’re small. She stopped training and decided to eat everything in sight. In a short span of time she grew several inches taller and a stone heavier - but later that year, and regardless of her size, she went back to competing - and also went back to winning medals for her country. Nadia was unbeatable, puberty or not.
An assumed affair
The press is always enamored with athletes and success, and because of this – they like to make up stories. One such made-up story was that Nadia was having an affair with Nicu Ceaușescu, the son of the Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu. Her image was slowly deteriorating because of the rumors, which made it seem like she was using her prefessional achievements to get closer to power. Of course, these rumors were entirely false. Nadia was not having an affair.
Downhill yet again
With all the fuss and the drama going on, it’s no wonder that the Moscow Olympics of 1980 didn’t go as planned. Sure, she won four medals - two gold and two silver -but there were serious problems with the scoring. Bela Károlyi, Nadia's coach, was furious with the judges, feeling they had not scored her fairly - and his argument with them was captured on live TV. The Romanian authorities felt this did not project well on to them, and his life, upon returning to Romania, would become very difficult.
Hecklers
Nadia was an international phenomenon, and she was the person to beat in the Olympics. The Russians wanted their gymnasts to win so bad that they brought soldiers to the stands specifically in order to heckle and distract the other countries’ competitors, and when Nadia was up, they were constantly yelling “Fall, Nadia, fall!” But Nadia’s cool professionalism persevered, and not only did she not fall - she went on to win medals in the competition against these unreasonable - and unsporting - odds.
Milking Nadia for money
In 1981, the struggling communist government of Romania realised that Nadia could make them a lot of money. Because of that, they organized the Nadia tour, “Nadia ’81”, where she toured around the United States like a rock star. Nadia was world famous and people were lining up to see the gymnastic wonder-girl. The tour was a success and the government earned $ 250,000 from it, but Nadia herself only got $ 1,000 for her efforts. While $ 1,000 were not a small sum by Romanian standards back then, it still felt exploitative.
Everything was as it should
Since Romania was communist no more, people wanted Nadia to return from her self-imposed exile in the US. The new government was a liberal one and they viewed her as a national hero. They even let her use the House of Parliament for her wedding with Bart Conor. People from all over the country arrived to honour the greatest Romanian athlete ever, and 10,000 people attended the wedding - which was televised. People took days off work to attend, and Nadia felt like Romania was, once again, truly her country.
Violence?
Professional athletic training can be very tough, especially when it starts out at a very young age. Still, there’s a difference between a strict training regiment and abuse. In 1995, the world was shaken to its core when news got out that an 11 year old Romanian gymnast was beaten to death by her coach. When the coach was suspiciously apprehended after months, he said that Nadia was also beaten by her coach, Bela. Both Bela and Nadia denied these lies.
Bela’s outlook on things
The legendary coach said that things like that happen all the time in Romania. Even though the country isn’t a dictatorship any more, the secret police are very powerful and can make you disappear. That, along with the overwhelming will to succeed in sports is a recipe for disaster. The kids end up suffering, and Romania, as a nation, loses. These are only some of the reasons Nadia and Bela chose to defect all those years ago, and while Romania has changed since, coming back is still difficult.
Dylan
In 2006 Nadia and Bart Welcomed their son, Dylan, into the world. Nadia considers him the centre of her life. The little man always spends time with his mom and dad. They both loves showing pictures of him to everyone. And while Dylan is still young - everyone wants to know if he, too, will end up having a career as an athlete. But even if he chooses a very different life path from his parents, he will still receive all the love and support they can provide.
A cool $$10 million
Today, Nadia is worth around $10 million dollars. No, she didn’t manage to get all that money overnight. She worked hard with Bart, her husband, in developing their academy, equipment sales, and production company. As a result of all that hard work, Nadia is able to bask in her success and live out the rest of her life in peace and prosperity. After all, considering everything she’s been through, we definitely think she deserves it.
The mentality
When people cite Nadia’s accomplishments, they all think that talent is the main reason for that. Every time, Nadia denies this notion. She says that it’s her mentality that allowed her to reach the realm of gymnastics super-stardom. She hated to lose so much that she decided to never let it happen. And while we can understand and respect the fact that she doesn't like to lose - despite what she says, we think it does require at least some sort of talent to win a series of perfect 10s in the Olympics!
Nobody will ever beat her
Despite her being a sensation of getting the first perfect ten, people still expect someone to beat her. However, due to some rule changes in scoring and grading the athletes’ routines, it is seemingly impossible for anyone to receive a pure 10 at the Olympics today. So will Nadia’s perfect, historic scores forever remain undisputed? Possibly! But if Nadia's story proves anything, records are made to be broken, and we can only hope that the person who breaks her record will come from her and Bart's school!