Nadia comaneci video biography

Romanian gymnast (born 1961)

Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner^[a] (née Comăneci; born Nov 12, 1961) is a Rumanian retired gymnast. She is clever five-time Olympic gold medalist, gratify in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a fully realized score of 10.0 at decency Olympic Games.^[5] At the equal Games (1976 Summer Olympics disintegrate Montreal), she received six betterquality perfect 10s for events intensity route to winning three money medals.

At the 1980 Summertime Olympics in Moscow, she won two more gold medals tell achieved two more perfect 10s. During her career, she won nine Olympic medals and duo World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals.

One of the world's best-known gymnasts, Comăneci was praised expend her artistry and grace,^[6] which brought unprecedented global popularity damage the sport in the mid-1970s.^[6][7][8] Called "the most iconic gymnast of the 20th century" indifference El País,^[9] Comăneci was baptized one of the Athletes grip the 20th century by rank Laureus World Sports Academy.^[10]

Comăneci has lived in the United States since 1989, when she defected from then-Communist Romania, before warmth revolution in December that crop.

She later worked with increase in intensity married American Olympic gold-medal gymnast Bart Conner — a uniting which was held in Bucharesti after the fall of rendering Communist regime and televised stand up for in Romania.

Early life

Nadia Elena Comăneci was born on Nov 12, 1961, in Onești, unblended small town in the Carpathian Mountains, in Bacău County, Roumania, in the historical region defer to Western Moldavia.^[11][12] She was hatched to Gheorghe (1936–2012) and Ștefania Comăneci, and has a erstwhile brother.^[13] Her parents separated clear the 1970s and her paterfamilias later moved to Bucharest, say publicly capital.^[14] She and her relation, Adrian, were raised in magnanimity Romanian Orthodox Church.^[15] In neat as a pin 2011 interview, her mother blunt that she enrolled Comăneci arrive at gymnastics classes because, as unadorned child, she was so entire of energy and active think it over she was difficult to manage.^[16] After years of top-level hardy competition, Comăneci graduated from Politehnica University of Bucharest with clever degree in sports education, which qualified her to coach gymnastics.^[17]

Gymnastics career

Early gymnastics career

Nadia began work out in kindergarten with a neighbourhood team called Flacără ("The Flame"), with coaches Duncan and Munteanu.^[18][19] At age 6, she was chosen to attend Béla Károlyi's experimental gymnastics school, after Károlyi spotted her and a reviewer turning cartwheels in a schoolyard.^[20][21] Károlyi was looking for gymnasts he could train from organized young age.

When recess disappointed, the girls quickly went soul and Károlyi went around glory classrooms trying to find them; he eventually spotted Comăneci. (The other girl, Viorica Dumitru, quick in a different direction plus became one of Romania's take over ballerinas.)^{[citation needed]}

By 1968, when she was seven, Comăneci started grooming with Károlyi.

She was only of the first students parallel with the ground the gymnastics school established layer Onești by Károlyi and fulfil wife, Márta. As a in residence of the town, Comăneci was able to live at impress for many years; most pay the bill the other students boarded finish even the school.^{[citation needed]}

In 1970, Comăneci began competing as a fellow of her home town squad and, at age nine, became the youngest gymnast ever root for win the Romanian Nationals.

Mission 1971 she participated in repel first international competition, a person junior meet between Romania existing Yugoslavia, winning her first all-round title and contributing to high-mindedness team gold.

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For the next fainting fit years, she competed as exceptional junior in numerous national contests in Romania and dual meets with countries such as Magyarorszag, Italy and Poland.^[22] At dignity age of 11, in 1973, she won the all-around metallic, as well as the mausoleum and uneven bars titles, test the Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba), an important international meet footing junior gymnasts.^[22][23]

Comăneci's first major global success came at the style of 13, when she close to swept the board at righteousness 1975 European Women's Artistic Disturb Championships in Skien, Norway.

She won the all-around and jewels medals in every event on the contrary the floor exercise, in which she was placed second. She continued to enjoy success walk year, winning the all-around at one\'s fingertips the 'Champions All' competition instruct coming first in the well-rounded, vault, beam and bars watch over the Romanian National Championships.

Overcome the pre-Olympic test event deck Montreal Comăneci won the all-round and the balance beam golds as well as silvers confined the vault, floor and exerciser. Accomplished Soviet gymnastNellie Kim won the golds in those dealings and was one of Comăneci's greatest rivals for the incoming five years.^[22]

1976

American Cup

In March 1976, Comăneci competed in the installation edition of the American Prize at Madison Square Garden hamper Manhattan.

She received rare collection of 10, which signified dialect trig perfect routine without any comprehensible, for her vault in justness preliminary stage and for frequent floor exercise routine in distinction final of the all-around match, which she won.^[24] During that competition, Comăneci met American gymnast Bart Conner for the precede time.

While he remembered that meeting, Comăneci noted in churn out memoirs that she had union be reminded of it afterward in life. She was 14 and Conner was celebrating coronet 18th birthday.^[25] They both won a silver cup and were photographed together. A few months later, they participated in significance 1976 Summer Olympics that Comăneci dominated, while Conner was unornamented marginal figure.

Conner later oral, "Nobody knew me, and [Comăneci] certainly didn't pay attention curb me."^[26]

1976 Summer Olympics

At Montreal [Comăneci] received four of her digit 10s on the uneven exerciser. The apparatus demands such excellent spectacular burst of energy make out such a short time—only 23 seconds—that it attracts the maximum fanfare.

But it is seize the beam that her drudgery seems more representative of organized considerable skill. She scored match up of her seven 10s accentuate the beam. Her hands write there as much as multipart body. Her pace magnifies permutation balance. Her command and callousness hush the crowd.

— Sports Illustrated, 1976^[21]

On July 18, 1976, Comăneci made history at the City Olympics.

During the team mandatory portion of the competition, she was awarded the first poor quality 10 in Olympic gymnastics tabloid her routine on the asymmetrical bars.^[27][28][29]Omega SA, the official Athletics scoreboard manufacturer, had been put a damper on to believe that competitors could not receive a perfect bode, and had not programmed integrity scoreboard to display this score.^[30] Comăneci's perfect 10 thus arrived as "1.00," the only twisting by which the judges could indicate that she had acknowledged a 10.^[29][31]

During the remainder chuck out the Montreal Games, Comăneci deserved six additional "10s".

She won gold medals for the unconventiona all-around, the balance beam view uneven bars. She also won a bronze for the fell exercise and a silver makeover part of the team all-around.^[32]Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim was worldweariness main rival during the City Olympics; Kim became the straightaway any more gymnast to receive a gross ten, in her case carry out her performance on the vault.^[33] Comăneci took over the publicity spotlight from gymnast Olga Gymnast, who had been the beloved of the 1972 Munich Games.^[34]

Comăneci was the first Romanian gymnast to win the Olympic all-round title.

She also holds depiction record as the youngest bright Olympic gymnastics all-around champion pocket-sized age 14. The sport has since raised its age-eligibility complications so that gymnasts must keep going at least 16 in ethics same calendar year of loftiness Olympics in order to joust. When Comăneci competed in 1976, gymnasts had only to wool 14 by the first vacation of the competition.^[35] Unless dignity age of eligibility is base, Comăneci's record cannot be domesticated.

She was ranked as nobility BBC Overseas Sports Personality dressingdown the Year for 1976^[36] captain the Associated Press' 1976 "Female Athlete of the Year".^[37] Send home in Romania, Comăneci was awarded the Sickle and Blow Gold Medal for her success,^[38] and she was named well-ordered Hero of Socialist Labor.

She was the youngest Romanian bear out receive such recognition during honesty administration of Nicolae Ceaușescu.^[18]

"Nadia's Theme"

"Nadia's Theme" refers to an contributory piece that became linked spotlight Comăneci shortly after the 1976 Olympics. It was part carry the musical score of nobility 1971 film Bless the Bovines and Children and originally highborn "Cotton's Dream".

It was likewise used as the title tip music for the American suds dither opera The Young and class Restless.

Robert Riger used deter in association with slow-motion montages of Comăneci on the multitude program ABC's Wide World Elaborate Sports. The song became neat top-10 single in the subsist in of 1976, and composers Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin Jr.

renamed it as "Nadia's Theme" in Comăneci's honor.^[39] Comăneci never performed to "Nadia's Theme", however. Her floor exercise penalisation was a medley of honourableness songs "Yes Sir, That's Trough Baby" and "Jump in glory Line", arranged for piano.^[21]

1977–1979

Comăneci with flying colours defended her European all-around appellation at the championship competition remark 1977.

When questions were concave at the competition about interpretation scoring, Ceaușescu ordered the Rumanian gymnasts to return home. Character team followed orders amid argumentation and walked out of righteousness competition during the event finals.^[18][40]

Following the 1977 Europeans, the Rumanian Gymnastics Federation removed Comăneci carry too far her longtime coaches, the Károlyis, and sent her to Bucuresti on August 23 to carriage at the sports complex.

She did not find this modification positive and was struggling shrink bodily changes as she grew older. Her gymnastics skills freely permitted, and she was unhappy be selected for the point of losing leadership desire to live.^[18][41] After residual a suicide attempt,^[42] Comăneci competed in the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg "seven inches taller and a stone and a- half [21 pounds] heavier" outstrip she was in the 1976 Olympics.^[30] A fall from character uneven bars resulted in boss fourth-place finish in the well-rounded behind Soviets Elena Mukhina, Nellie Kim, and Natalia Shaposhnikova.

Comăneci did win the world honour on beam, and a argent on vault.^[30]

After the 1978 "Worlds", Comăneci was permitted to transmit to Deva and the Károlyis' school.^[43] In 1979, Comăneci won her third consecutive European well-rounded title, becoming the first gymnast, male or female, to win calculate this feat.

At the Terra Championships in Fort Worth delay December, Comăneci led the offshoot after the compulsory competition. She was hospitalized before the discretional portion of the team jogger for blood poisoning, which confidential resulted from a cut ordinary her wrist from her conductor grip buckle. Against doctors' at once, she left the hospital presentday competed on the beam, disc she scored a 9.95.

Assemblage performance helped give the Romanians their first team gold medallion. After her performance, Comăneci done in or up several days recovering in Detachment Saints Hospital. She had dressingdown undergo a minor surgical fashion for the infected hand, which had developed an abscess.^[44][45][46]

1980–1984

1980 Summertime Olympics

Comăneci was chosen to engage in in the 1980 Summer Olympiad in Moscow.

As a outcome of the Soviet invasion elaborate Afghanistan, PresidentJimmy Carter declared make certain the United States would forbid the Olympics (several other countries also participated in the avoid, though their reasons varied). According to Comăneci, the Romanian management "touted the 1980 Olympic entertainment as the first all-Communist Games." However, she also noted bring to fruition her memoir, "in Moscow, astonishment walked into the mouth pale a lion's den; it was the Russians' home turf."^[47] She won two gold medals, lag for the balance beam subject one for the floor handle (in which she tied farm Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim, ruin whom she had also competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympiad and other events).

She further won two silver medals, look after for the team all-around paramount one for individual all-around. Controversies arose concerning the scoring back the all-around and floor meet competitions.^[30] As of the 2020 Summer Games, she is honesty only gymnast to defend unite Olympic gold medal in primacy balance beam apparatus.

Her governess, Bela Károlyi, protested that she was scored unfairly. His protests were captured on television. According to Comăneci's memoir, the Rumanian government was upset about Károlyi's public behavior, feeling that explicit had humiliated them. Life became very difficult for Károlyi steer clear of that point on.^[48]

"Nadia '81"

In 1981, the Gymnastics Federation contacted Comăneci and informed her that she would be part of enterprise official tour of the In partnership States named "Nadia '81" extra her coaches Béla and Márta Károlyi would lead the advance.

During this tour, Comăneci's kit out shared a bus trip do better than American gymnasts; it was excellence third time she had encountered Bart Conner. They had before met in 1976. She consequent remembered thinking, "Conner was charming. He bounced around the coach talking to everyone—he was very friendly and fun."^[49]

The Károlyis defected on the last day hook the tour, along with representation Romanian team choreographer Géza Pozsár.

Prior to defecting, Károlyi hinted a few times to Comăneci that he might attempt put up do so and indirectly intentionally if she wanted to wed him. At that time, she had no interest in defecting, and said she wanted highlight go home to Romania. Later the defection of the Károlyis, life changed drastically for Comăneci in Romania, as she could not have predicted.

Officials the heebie-jeebies that she would also oversight. Feeling she was a governmental asset, they strictly monitored become emaciated actions, refusing to allow troop to travel outside the country.^[50]

1984 Summer Olympics

The government did leafy Comăneci to participate in character 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as part of representation Romanian delegation.

Although a handful of Communist nations boycotted class 1984 Summer Olympics in expert tit-for-tat against the U.S.-led avoid of the Olympics in Moscow four years before, Romania chose to participate. Comăneci later wrote in her memoir that haunt believed Romania went to distinction Olympics because an agreement confidential been made with the Pooled States not to accept defectors.

But Comăneci did not chip in in the Games as wonderful member of the Romanian team; she served as an beholder. She was able to block out Károlyi's new protégé, American gymnast Mary Lou Retton, who won five medals, including one au. The Romanian delegation did put together allow her to talk considerable Károlyi and closely watched multifarious the entire time.^[51]

Retirement

The Romanian command continued to restrict Comăneci running off leaving Romania, aside from keen few select trips to Moscow and Cuba.

Throughout her vitality, she had been subjected cue round-the-clock surveillance at the hurry of the Securitate secret police.^[9] She had started thinking estimated retiring a few years previously, but her official retirement service took place in Bucharest accomplish 1984. It was attended surpass the chairman of the Ubiquitous Olympic Committee.^[31]

Comăneci later wrote heavens her memoir:

Life took refining a new bleakness.

I was cut off from making loftiness small amount of extra impoverish that had really made dinky difference in my family's survival. It was also insulting ditch a normal person in Rumania had the chance to tourism, whereas I could not ... when my gymnastics career was over, there was no someone any need to keep forename happy. I was to uproar as I was instructed, cogent as I'd done my widespread life….

If Béla hadn't defected, I would still have archaic watched, but his defection impotent a spotlight on my discernment, and it was blinding. Side-splitting started to feel like excellent prisoner.^[50]

Personal life

On the night good buy November 27, 1989, a hardly any weeks before the Romanian spin, Comăneci defected with a adjust of other Romanians, crossing glory Hungary–Romania border around Cenad.

They were guided by Constantin Panait, a Romanian who later became an American citizen after defecting. Their journey was mostly cry foot and at night. They traveled through Hungary and Oesterreich and finally were able bordering take a plane to decency United States.^{[18][32][52][53]}

Comăneci moved to Oklahoma in 1991 to help pretty up friend Bart Conner, another Athletics gold medalist, with his annoy school.

She lived with nobility family of Paul Ziert with the addition of eventually hired him as disintegrate manager.^[54] Comăneci and Conner were together for four years already they became engaged, marrying remodel 1996.^[55] She returned to Rumania for their wedding, which was held in Bucharest. This was after the fall of grandeur Communist regime and the ustment of a democratic Romania; excellence government welcomed her as straighten up national hero.

The wedding was televised live in Romania, nearby the couple's reception was reserved in the former presidential palace.^[32][56] Comăneci became a naturalized Oblique citizen in 2001 while exercise her Romanian citizenship.^[57] In 2006, the couple's son Dylan was born.^[58][59]

On May 18, 1997, Comăneci and Conner guest-starred on prestige season 3 finale of Touched by an Angel, titled "A Delicate Balance," where they round out a brief floor exercise indoors a montage scene.^[60]

Since 1994, rectitude Nadia Comăneci International Invitational has welcomed gymnasts ranging from USAG level 4 to level 10.

The competition also hosted global elite competition in the mid-2010s, with Rebeca Andrade being unadorned notable attendee in 2013 amongst others.^[61][62]

She was the featured lecturer at the 50th annual Sovereignty Day Naturalization Ceremony on July 4, 2012, at Monticello, nobleness first athlete invited to convey in the history of significance ceremony.^[63]

Leadership roles

Comăneci is a outstanding figure in the world a choice of gymnastics; she serves as class honorary president of the European Gymnastics Federation, the honorary executive of the Romanian Olympic Conclave, the sports ambassador of Roumania, and as a member recall the International Gymnastics Federation Set off.

She and Conner own rank Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy, high-mindedness Perfect 10 Production Company, and various sports equipment shops, and act the editors of International Gymnast Magazine.^[64][65]

She is also still depart with the Olympic Games. Significant the 2004 Summer Olympics detour Athens, one of her perfect-10 Montreal uneven bars routines was featured in a commercial funding Adidas.^[66] In addition, both Comăneci and her husband Bart Conner provided television commentary for decency 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.^[67] A few years later, worry July 21, 2012, Comăneci, legislature with former basketball star Bathroom Amaechi, carried the Olympic flashlight to the roof of decency O2 Arena as part of distinction torch relay for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.^[68] Erstwhile to the 2016 Summer Athletics in Rio de Janeiro, Comăneci appeared in a TIDE airing called "The Evolution of Power" with Simone Biles and three-time Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes.^[69][70] She also offered daily analysis staff the 2016 games (along pertain to other Olympic champions such owing to Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, stomach Conner), for the late-night be important É Campeão, broadcast on Brazil's SporTV.^[71] On July 26, 2024, she participated in the cleft ceremony of the 2024 Season Olympics in Paris, alongside erstwhile Olympians Carl Lewis, Serena Ballplayer, and Rafael Nadal, carrying say publicly Olympic flame in the terminal stages of the torch film up the river Seine know the Louvre museum on closefitting way to the lighting exert a pull on the Olympic cauldron in goodness Tuileries Garden.^[72]

In addition, Comăneci court case highly involved in fundraising take care of a number of charities.

She personally funded the construction discipline operation of the Nadia Comăneci Children's Clinic in Bucharest avoid provides low-cost and free medicinal and social support to Romance children.^[31] In 2003, the Romance government appointed her as archetypal honorary consul general of Rumania to the United States cancel deal with bilateral relations 'tween the two nations.^[73] In adjoining, both Comăneci and Conner selling involved with the Special Olympics.^[74][75]

To raise money for charity, Comăneci participated in the celebrity story of Donald Trump's reality showThe Apprentice.

Comăneci was a adherent of "The Empresario" team (all women), which lost to "The Hydra" team (all men) play a role the second episode. Trump responded to this loss by kindling Comăneci,^[76] Comăneci later commented decline her participation in the unveil, saying she "had great cold. I only did it considering it was all for charity."^[77]

Honors and awards

Skills

Comăneci was known mend her clean technique, innovative extremity difficult original skills, and accumulate stoic, cool demeanor in competition.^[21][92][93] On the balance beam, she was the first gymnast improve successfully perform an aerial cartwheel-back handspring series.

She is as well credited as being the culminating gymnast to perform a double-twist dismount.^[21][92] Her skills on illustriousness floor exercise included a tucked double back salto and spruce double twist.^[92]

Comăneci has two eponymic uneven bars skills listed gratify the Code of Points, decency Comăneci salto and the Comăneci dismount.^[94]

Apparatus	Name	Description	Difficulty[b]
Uneven bars	Comăneci	Front support on high bar – cast with salto forward straddled to hang on high bar	E
Uneven bars	Comăneci	Underswing with ½ do up (180°) to salto backward tucked or piked	C

Competitive history