Nadia Comaneci Biography

BIRTH: November 12, 1961, Romania

Nadia Comaneci Biography : Olympic Medals, Records

Nadia Comaneci is a Romanian gymnast who created history as the first female gymnast to score a perfect ten in an Olympic gymnastics event. She was also the youngest all-around Olympic gold medalist at the mere age of fourteen.

Nadia Elena Comaneci was born on November 12, 1961, in Romania to Gheorghe and Stefania Comaneci. At the age of six, Nadia started training in gymnastics under the duo Bela and Martha Karolyi at their world-renowned experimental gymnastics school.

In 1969, Comaneci participated in her first gymnastics competition, the Romanian National Championships. She placed thirteenth that year. In 1970, Comaneci won the competition and became the youngest gymnast ever to win the Romanian Nationals. The following year, Comaneci expanded her talents to international platforms. In 1972, she won three gold medals at a pre-Olympic junior meet for the communist bloc countries. In 1973 and 1974, she was declared an all-around champion.

As she grew up, Nadia started to participate in senior level competitions. She got international fame at the European Championships in 1975. She won the gold medal in every routine, beating five time European champion Turishcheva, except in the floor exercises in which she scored silver.

The next year was a turning point in her gymnastics career. Comaneci started the year by winning the 1976 American Cup. She was the first woman to perform a backward double salto while dismounting from the uneven parallel bars. Comaneci again created history at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. She was rewarded with seven perfect scores and three gold medals for the balance beam, the uneven bars and individual all-around. At the age of fourteen, she was recognized as the youngest woman to score a perfect ten in an Olympic gymnastics event. Nadia will always remain the youngest gymnast to hold this record because Olympics updated its age-eligibility requirements to sixteen years.

In 1977, Comaneci earned her second European world title. Hereafter, her performance started getting affected when she found out about her parents’ divorce. The same year her coach also changed. As a result, Comaneci didn’t perform well at the 1978 World Championships, finishing in fourth place.

She came back in form in 1979 and claimed her third European all-around title. Nadia was the first gymnast to have achieved three all around titles. Despite an infected hand and hospitalization for blood poisoning, Comaneci persevered. She scored 9.95 for her routine and won her team the gold medal, a first for Romania.

In 1980, Nadia made her return to the Summer Olympics in Moscow. She won two gold and two silver medals in that season. In 1981, she was invited to participate in the United States official tour which was named “Nadia ’81”. The same year, coach Karolyi defected to the United States while touring. This affected Nadia’s career. In 1984, she retired from competing.

Nadia’s degree in sports helped her to become a coach for the Romanian gymnastics team. In 1989, she finally left her country and moved to the United States and in 2001 Comaneci officially became a U.S. citizen. Apart from her gymnastics career, she did some modeling projects and starred in few advertisements.

Nadia, as a former gymnast, was known for her clean routines and using complex skills in competitions. Till date, she is given credit for specific techniques that she first introduced in her routines. She was the first gymnast to successfully perform an aerial walkover and an aerial cartwheel – back flight series. Apart from her innovative routines, the music that she used in the 1976 Olympics became famous all over the world. It was referred to as “Nadia’s Theme”. The musical score was later used in many films and theatre. Nadia was also a great writer and released her book titled Letters to a Young Gymnast in 2003.

Nadia married American gymnast Bart Conner in 1996. The couple gave birth to their only son in 2006. Nadia and her husband support and help the underprivileged. They founded the Nadia Comăneci Gymnastics School and also opened Nadia Children’s Clinic to provide free and low cost medical and social aid to Romanian kids. Nadia owns a magazine called the International Gymnast and a television production company, Perfect 10 Productions, Inc, with her husband.