NADIA COMĂNECI
NADIA COMĂNECI
Image Credit: Original Photographer as in Google
Nadia Elena Comăneci is a Romanian retired
gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medallist, 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, thus creating history. Not only that, in that very occasion, 1976
Summer Olympics, she received six more perfect 10s for events en route to
winning three gold medals. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Comăneci won
two more gold medals and attained two more perfect 10s. During her career,
Comăneci won nine Olympic medals and four World Artistic Gymnastics
Championship medals.
Considered as one of the finest female gymnasts the world has ever produced, Comăneci is credited for not only achieving perfect 10 in any event but also for popularizing Gymnastics uniquely around the globe. In 2000, she was named as one of the Athletes of the 20th Century by the Laureus World Sports Academy.
Comăneci began
gymnastics in kindergarten with a local team called Flacăra. By 1968, when
she was seven, Comăneci had started training with Károlyi. She was one of the
first students at the gymnastics school established in Onești by Béla and his
wife, Márta. In 1970, Comăneci
began competing as a member of her hometown 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, winning her first all-around title, and contributing to the team
gold. Comăneci's first major international success came at the age of 13, when
she nearly swept the 1975 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in
Skien, Norway. She won the all-around and gold medals in every event but the
floor exercise, in which she placed second. On 18 July 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 uneven bars.
Comments
Post a Comment