Nadia Comaneci

Hello! We do what we do and we get back to gym! And if the last time we talked about Sandra Izbasa, this time we talk about absolute champion of all time, Nadia Comaneci!

Nadia Elena Comaneci is a Romanian gymnast, the world's first gymnast to receive a perfect ten in Olympic competition. Is the winner of five Olympic gold medals. It is considered one of the best athletes of the twentieth century and one of the best gymnasts in the world, of all time, "Goddess of Montreal," the first gymnast modern era took 10 absolutely. Roman is the first sports included in the memorial International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Nadia was born in Onesti, daughter of George and Stefania-Alexandrina Comaneci, was named after "Nadezhda" ("Hope"), the heroine of the film. Some sources claim that would be born as "Anna Kemenes".

He competed nationally for the first time in Romania in 1970 as a member of the team or the city. Soon, he began training cuBéla Karolyi and his wife Marta Karolyi, who later emigrated to the United States and become coaches of many American gymnasts. At age 13, Comaneci's first major success was winning three gold medals and one silver at the 1975 European Championships, from Skien, Norway. That same year, the Associated Press news agency called "Athlete of the Year in Romania".

At 14, Comaneci became the star of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. Not only became the first gymnast to score a perfect ten obtained Olympics (seven times), he also won three gold medals (in the all-around, beam and bars), a silver medal (team composed) and bronze (ground). Home success earned him the distinction of "Hero of Socialist Labor," the most distinguished young Romanian with this title.

Comaneci defended his European title in 1977, but the Romanian team left the competition in the finals, in protest against arbitration. At the 1978 World Championships Nadia Comaneci one above average weight and out of shape. Fall in parallel sent her 4th place, but won the title on beam.

In 1979, Comaneci, normal weight again, won the third title (becoming the first athlete in the history of gymnastics who managed this performance). At the World Championships in December, she won the preliminary competition but was hospitalized before participating in the team competition due to infections of the blood from a cut wrist, caused by a metal buckle. Despite doctors' recommendations, she left the hospital and competed on beam, where she scored 9.95. His performance gave Romania the first gold medal in the team competition.

He participated in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, ranking second after Elena Davidova to AA when he was forced to wait for note until Davidova year has ended. Nadia has kept the title on beam, but also won another gold medal in the floor exercise, and one silver, along with the team.

Comaneci retired from competition after the Games. Between 1984 and 1989 she was a member of the Romanian Gymnastics aFederatiei and helped Romanian junior gymnastics training. On the night of 27/28 noiembrie1989 illegally crossed the Romanian-Hungarian border [6], eventually asking the U.S. government for political asylum. This dramatic gesture had a major effect on public opinion, even the ruling family of Romania. Nadia spent the next years promoting lines of gymnastics apparel, Jockey underwear, aerobic equipment and wedding dresses. In 1994, she was engaged to U.S. gymnast Bart Conner and returned to Romania for the first time since leaving. Comaneci and Conner were married in Romania in April 1996.

In 1999, Comaneci became the first athlete to be invited to speak at the United Nations to launch the Year 2000 International Year of Volunteers. She is currently busy with gymnastics and charity work around the world. She and her husband own the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy Gymnastics Academy, the Perfect 10 Production Company and of several sports equipment shops and publishers of International Gymnastics Magazine.

Nadia Comaneci is vice president of the Board of Special Olympics, Honorary President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, the Honorary President of Romanian Olympic Committee, Ambassador of Sports Romanian, Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and a member of the International Gymnastics Federation Foundation. He was twice awarded the Olympic Order, the IOC granted.

In December 2003, was published his first book, Letters to a Young Gymnast (in English: Letters To A Young Gymnast). Nadia created a charity clinic in Bucharest to help orphaned children in Romania.

Hopefully all of Romania will appear in a future Nadia once a second.

God bless you!