Nadia Comăneci facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nadia Comăneci
Comăneci in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Nadia Elena Comăneci
Nickname(s)	Nana
Country represented	Romania
Born	(1961-11-12) November 12, 1961 (age 63) Onești, Romanian PR
Spouse	Bart Conner ​ (m. 1996)​
Height	5 ft 3.5 in (1.61 m)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	1970–1984 (ROU)
Gym	National Training Center
College team	Politehnica University of Bucharest
Former coach(es)	Béla Károlyi Márta Károlyi
Choreographer	Géza Pozsár
Eponymous skills	Comăneci salto (uneven bars)
Retired	May 7, 1984 (official)
Medal record Representing  Romania Women's artistic gymnastics Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 5 3 1 World Championships 2 2 0 World Cup Final 2 1 0 European Championships 9 2 1 Summer Universiade 5 0 0 Olympic Games Gold 1976 Montréal All-Around Gold 1976 Montréal Uneven Bars Gold 1976 Montréal Balance Beam Gold 1980 Moscow Balance Beam Gold 1980 Moscow Floor Exercise Silver 1976 Montréal Team Silver 1980 Moscow Team Silver 1980 Moscow All-Around Bronze 1976 Montréal Floor Exercise World Championships Gold 1978 Strasbourg Balance Beam Gold 1979 Ft. Worth Team Silver 1978 Strasbourg Team Silver 1978 Strasbourg Vault World Cup Final Gold 1979 Tokyo Vault Gold 1979 Tokyo Floor Exercise Silver 1979 Tokyo Balance Beam European Championships Gold 1975 Skien All-Around Gold 1975 Skien Uneven Bars Gold 1975 Skien Balance Beam Gold 1975 Skien Vault Gold 1977 Prague All-Around Gold 1977 Prague Uneven Bars Gold 1979 Copenhagen All-Around Gold 1979 Copenhagen Vault Gold 1979 Copenhagen Floor Exercise Silver 1975 Skien Floor Exercise Silver 1977 Prague Vault Bronze 1979 Copenhagen Balance Beam Summer Universiade Gold 1981 Bucharest Team Gold 1981 Bucharest All-Around Gold 1981 Bucharest Uneven Bars Gold 1981 Bucharest Vault Gold 1981 Bucharest Floor Exercise

Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a famous retired gymnast from Romania. She won five Olympic gold medals in individual events. In 1976, when she was just 14, Nadia became the first gymnast ever to score a perfect 10.0 at the Olympic Games.

At the same 1976 Montreal Olympics, she earned six more perfect 10s. She won three gold medals there. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, she won two more gold medals and achieved two more perfect 10s. Throughout her amazing career, she won nine Olympic medals and four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals.

Nadia Comăneci is one of the most well-known gymnasts in the world. People admired her artistic style and grace. She made gymnastics much more popular globally in the mid-1970s. El País newspaper called her "the most iconic gymnast of the 20th century." The Laureus World Sports Academy named her one of the Athletes of the 20th century. In August 2024, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) voted her the best female gymnast of the last 100 years. She was also named the second best athlete of all sports, after Serena Williams.

Comăneci has lived in the United States since 1989. She moved there from Romania before the Romanian revolution in December of that year. She later worked with and married American Olympic gold-medal gymnast Bart Conner. Their wedding was held in Bucharest after the Communist government fell. It was even shown live on TV in Romania.

Nadia's Early Life

Onești, the town where Comăneci was born

Nadia Elena Comăneci was born on November 12, 1961. Her hometown was Onești, a small place in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. Her parents were Gheorghe and Ștefania Comăneci. She also has a younger brother. Her parents separated in the 1970s. Her father later moved to Bucharest, the capital city.

Nadia and her brother, Adrian, grew up in the Romanian Orthodox Church. In an interview from 2011, Nadia's mother said she enrolled Nadia in gymnastics classes. This was because Nadia was so full of energy as a child that she was hard to manage. After many years of competing at the highest level, Nadia graduated from Politehnica University of Bucharest. She earned a degree in sports education. This degree allowed her to become a gymnastics coach.

Nadia's Gymnastics Career

Starting Gymnastics

Nadia Comăneci at the European Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia in May 1977

Nadia started gymnastics in kindergarten with a local team called Flacără ("The Flame"). Her first coaches were Duncan and Munteanu. When she was six, she was chosen to join Béla Károlyi's special gymnastics school. Károlyi saw her and a friend doing cartwheels in a schoolyard. He was looking for young gymnasts to train.

By 1968, when Nadia was seven, she began training with Károlyi. She was one of the first students at the gymnastics school that Károlyi and his wife, Márta, started in Onești. Since Nadia lived in the town, she could stay at home for many years. Most other students lived at the school.

In 1970, Nadia started competing for her hometown team. At age nine, she became the youngest gymnast to win the Romanian Nationals. In 1971, she competed internationally for the first time. It was a junior meet between Romania and Yugoslavia. She won her first all-around title and helped her team win gold. For the next few years, she competed as a junior in many national contests in Romania. She also competed in meets against countries like Hungary, Italy, and Poland. In 1973, at age 11, she won the all-around gold. She also won the vault and uneven bars titles at the Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba). This was an important international competition for junior gymnasts.

Nadia's first big international success came when she was 13. She almost won every event at the 1975 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Skien, Norway. She won the all-around title and gold medals in every event except the floor exercise, where she placed second. She continued to do well that year. She won the all-around at the 'Champions All' competition. She also came first in the all-around, vault, beam, and bars at the Romanian National Championships. At a test event in Montreal before the Olympics, Nadia won gold in the all-around and balance beam. She also won silver in the vault, floor, and bars. The talented Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim won gold in those events. Kim became one of Nadia's biggest rivals for the next five years.

Monument dedicated to the Onești gymnastics school champions including Comăneci

The 1976 Olympic Games

American Cup Success

In March 1976, Nadia competed in the first-ever American Cup in New York City. She earned rare scores of 10. These scores meant a perfect routine with no mistakes. She got a 10 for her vault in the first round and for her floor exercise in the final. She won the all-around competition.

During this event, Nadia met American gymnast Bart Conner for the first time. He remembered meeting her, but Nadia later said she had to be reminded of it. She was 14, and Bart was turning 18. They both won a silver cup and were photographed together. A few months later, they both went to the 1976 Summer Olympics. Nadia was the star, while Bart was not as well known. Bart later said, "Nobody knew me, and [Comăneci] certainly didn't pay attention to me."

Making History in Montreal

Comăneci at the 1976 Olympics

On July 18, 1976, Nadia Comăneci made history at the Montreal Olympics. During the team part of the competition, she received the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics. This was for her routine on the uneven bars. Omega SA, which made the Olympic scoreboards, thought gymnasts couldn't get a perfect ten. So, they hadn't programmed the scoreboard to show "10.00". Nadia's perfect 10 appeared as "1.00". This was the only way the judges could show she got a 10.

Comăneci at the 1976 Olympics

During the rest of the Montreal Games, Nadia earned six more "10s". She won gold medals for the individual all-around, the balance beam, and uneven bars. She also won a bronze medal for the floor exercise. Her team won a silver medal in the team all-around. Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim was her main rival. Kim became the second gymnast to get a perfect ten, for her vault performance. Nadia Comăneci became the new gymnastics star, taking the spotlight from Olga Korbut, who was famous from the 1972 Olympics.

Nadia was the first Romanian gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title. She also holds the record as the youngest Olympic gymnastics all-around champion at age 14. The rules for gymnastics have changed since then. Now, gymnasts must be at least 16 in the same year as the Olympics to compete. Because of this, Nadia's record as the youngest champion cannot be broken unless the age rule changes again.

She was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year for 1976. The Associated Press also named her the 1976 "Female Athlete of the Year". In Romania, she received the Sickle and Hammer Gold Medal for her success. She was also named a Hero of Socialist Labor. She was the youngest Romanian to receive such an honor during the time of Nicolae Ceaușescu's rule.

"Nadia's Theme" Song

"Nadia's Theme" is a song that became linked to Nadia Comăneci after the 1976 Olympics. It was originally from a 1971 movie and called "Cotton's Dream". It was also used as the theme song for a TV show called The Young and the Restless.

A TV producer named Robert Riger used the song with slow-motion videos of Nadia on a sports show. The song became very popular in late 1976. The composers, Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin Jr., renamed it "Nadia's Theme" to honor her. However, Nadia herself never performed her floor exercise to "Nadia's Theme". Her floor music was a mix of "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and "Jump in the Line", played on piano.

1977–1979 Competitions

Nadia successfully won her European all-around title again in 1977. During this competition, there were questions about the scoring. Because of this, the Romanian leader, Ceaușescu, ordered the Romanian gymnasts to go home. The team followed orders and left the competition during the final events.

After the 1977 European Championships, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation took Nadia away from her coaches, the Károlyis. They sent her to Bucharest to train at a sports center. Nadia did not like this change. She was also growing and her body was changing. Her gymnastics skills were affected, and she became very unhappy.

Nadia competed in the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg. She was taller and heavier than she was at the 1976 Olympics. She fell from the uneven bars, which led to her finishing fourth in the all-around. Three Soviet gymnasts placed ahead of her. However, Nadia did win the world title on the balance beam and a silver medal on the vault.

After the 1978 World Championships, Nadia was allowed to return to the Károlyis' school. In 1979, Nadia won her third European all-around title in a row. She was the first gymnast, male or female, to do this. At the World Championships in Fort Worth that December, Nadia was leading after the first part of the competition. She had to go to the hospital before the team competition because of blood poisoning. This was from a cut on her wrist from her metal grip buckle. Against doctors' advice, she left the hospital and competed on the beam. She scored a 9.95. Her performance helped Romania win their first team gold medal. After her performance, Nadia spent several days recovering in the hospital. She had a small surgery for the infection in her hand.

1980–1984: Later Career

1980 Moscow Olympics

Comăneci in Moscow, 1980

Nadia was chosen to compete in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The United States and some other countries decided not to go to these Olympics. This was because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Nadia said that the Romanian government saw the 1980 Olympics as the "first all-Communist Games." But she also wrote in her book that "in Moscow, we walked into the mouth of a lion's den; it was the Russians' home turf."

Nadia fell during her uneven bars routine in the team competition and scored only 9.50. But later, she received two more perfect 10s. One was on the balance beam, and another was on the uneven bars. She won two gold medals: one for the balance beam and one for the floor exercise. She tied with Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim for the floor exercise gold. She also won two silver medals: one for the team all-around and one for the individual all-around. There were some arguments about the scoring in the all-around and floor exercise events. As of the 2020 Summer Games, she is the only gymnast to win the Olympic balance beam gold medal twice in a row.

Her coach, Bela Károlyi, argued that she was scored unfairly. His protests were shown on television. According to Nadia's book, the Romanian government was unhappy with Károlyi's public behavior. They felt he had embarrassed them. Life became very difficult for Károlyi after that.

"Nadia '81" Tour

Comăneci on the balance beam, 1980

In 1981, the Gymnastics Federation told Nadia she would go on an official tour of the United States called "Nadia '81". Her coaches, Béla and Márta Károlyi, would lead the group. During this tour, Nadia's team shared a bus with American gymnasts. This was the third time she had met Bart Conner. She later remembered thinking, "Conner was cute. He bounced around the bus talking to everyone—he was incredibly friendly and fun."

The Károlyis and the Romanian team's choreographer, Géza Pozsár, decided to stay in the United States on the last day of the tour. Before they left, Károlyi hinted to Nadia a few times that he might try to stay. He indirectly asked if she wanted to join him. At that time, she did not want to stay and said she wanted to go home to Romania. After the Károlyis left, Nadia's life in Romania changed a lot. Officials worried that she might also leave. They watched her very closely and did not let her travel outside the country.

1984 Los Angeles Olympics

The Romanian government did allow Nadia to go to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She went as part of the Romanian group. Many Communist countries decided not to go to the 1984 Olympics. This was in response to the U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics four years earlier. However, Romania chose to participate. Nadia later wrote in her book that many people thought Romania went to the Olympics because they had an agreement with the United States not to accept people who left their country. But Nadia did not compete in the Games. She was there as an observer. She saw Károlyi's new student, American gymnast Mary Lou Retton, who won five medals, including a gold. The Romanian group did not let Nadia talk with Károlyi. They watched her closely the whole time.

Retirement from Gymnastics

A 2016 Romanian postage stamp showing Comăneci on the balance beam at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal

The Romanian government continued to stop Nadia from leaving Romania. She was only allowed a few trips to Moscow and Cuba. Throughout her career, the secret police watched her all the time. She had thought about retiring a few years earlier. Her official retirement ceremony took place in Bucharest in 1984. The head of the International Olympic Committee attended.

Nadia later wrote in her book: "Life became very sad. I could no longer earn the small amount of extra money that helped my family. It was also unfair that normal people in Romania could travel, but I could not... when my gymnastics career ended, there was no longer a need to keep me happy. I had to do as I was told, just like I had my whole life... If Béla had not left, I would still have been watched. But his leaving brought a bright spotlight on my life, and it was blinding. I started to feel like a prisoner."

Personal Life

Comăneci and her husband Bart Conner meeting First Lady Michelle Obama, 2009

On the night of November 27, 1989, just weeks before the Romanian revolution, Nadia left Romania with a group of others. They crossed the border into Hungary. Their journey was mostly on foot and at night. They traveled through Hungary and Austria. Finally, they were able to fly to the United States. She lived briefly in South Florida, then in Los Angeles, and later in Montreal, Canada, for almost two years.

Nadia moved to Oklahoma in 1991 to help her friend Bart Conner, another Olympic gold medalist, with his gymnastics school. She lived with the family of Paul Ziert and later hired him as her manager. Nadia and Bart were together for four years before they got engaged. They married in 1996. She returned to Romania for their wedding, which was held in Bucharest. This was after the fall of the Communist government and the start of a democratic Romania. The government welcomed her as a national hero. The wedding was shown live on TV in Romania. The reception was held in the former presidential palace. Nadia became a U.S. citizen in 2001 but kept her Romanian citizenship. In 2006, their son Dylan was born.

On May 18, 1997, Nadia Comăneci and Bart Conner appeared as guest stars on the TV show Touched by an Angel. They performed a short floor exercise in one scene.

Since 1994, the Nadia Comăneci International Invitational has welcomed gymnasts of different skill levels. The competition also hosted international elite gymnasts in the mid-2010s. Rebeca Andrade was one famous gymnast who attended in 2013.

Nadia was the main speaker at the 50th annual Independence Day Naturalization Ceremony on July 4, 2012, at Monticello. She was the first athlete ever invited to speak at this ceremony.

Leadership and Charity Work

Comăneci at the BRD Năstase Țiriac Trophy, April 2012

Nadia Comăneci is a very important person in the world of gymnastics. She is the honorary president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation. She is also the honorary president of the Romanian Olympic Committee. She serves as Romania's sports ambassador and is a member of the International Gymnastics Federation Foundation. She and Bart Conner own the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy. They also own the Perfect 10 Production Company and several sports equipment shops. They are the editors of International Gymnast Magazine.

She is still involved with the Olympic Games. During the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, one of her perfect-10 uneven bars routines from Montreal was shown in an Adidas commercial. Also, both Nadia and her husband Bart Conner were TV commentators for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. A few years later, on July 21, 2012, Nadia carried the Olympic torch to the roof of the O2 Arena in London. This was part of the torch relay for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Nadia appeared in a TIDE advertisement. She was with Simone Biles and three-time Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes. She also gave daily analysis of the 2016 games for a Brazilian TV show. On July 26, 2024, she took part in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She carried the Olympic flame along the river Seine with other famous Olympians like Carl Lewis, Serena Williams, and Rafael Nadal.

Nadia is also very involved in raising money for many charities. She personally paid for the building and running of the Nadia Comăneci Children's Clinic in Bucharest. This clinic provides affordable and free medical and social help to Romanian children. In 2003, the Romanian government made her an honorary consul general of Romania to the United States. This role helps with relations between the two countries. Also, both Nadia and Bart Conner are involved with the Special Olympics.

To raise money for charity, Nadia took part in the celebrity version of Donald Trump's TV show The Apprentice. Nadia was on the "The Empresario" team (all women). Her team lost to the men's team in the second episode. Trump then fired Nadia from the show. Nadia later said about being on the show, "I had great fun. I only did it because it was all for charity."

Honors and Awards

Comăneci in Montreal. Stamp of Romania, 1976

• 1975 and 1976: The United Press International Athlete of the Year Award
• 1976: Hero of Socialist Labour
• 1976: Associated Press Athlete of the Year
• 1976: BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
• 1984: The Olympic Order (bronze)
• 1990: International Women's Sports Hall of Fame
• 1993: International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
• 1998: Marca Leyenda
• 1998: Flo Hyman Award
• 2004: The Olympic Order (silver)
• 2016: Great Immigrant Honoree: Carnegie Corporation of New York
• 2017: She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 Women of 2017.
• 2017: an area in the Olympic Park in Montreal was renamed "Place Nadia Comaneci".
• 2021: Order of the Star of Romania, Grand Officer

Gymnastics Skills

Nadia Comăneci was known for her very clean technique. She also created new and difficult skills. She was very calm and focused during competitions. On the balance beam, she was the first gymnast to successfully do an aerial cartwheel followed by a back handspring. She is also known for being the first gymnast to perform a double-twist dismount. Her skills on the floor exercise included a tucked double back salto and a double twist.

Nadia has two uneven bars skills named after her in the Code of Points. These are the Comăneci salto and the Comăneci dismount.

Competitive History

Comăneci wearing her medals in 1976

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
Junior
1971	Novice Romanian Championships		4
	Romanian Cup
	Junior ROM-YUG Dual Meet
1972	Novice Romanian Championships
	Junior Romanian Championships
	Romanian Cup
	BUL-ROM Dual Meet
	Friendship Tournament	4		6
	ROM-GDR Dual Meet
	ROM-RSFSR Dual Meet
	ROM-HUN Dual Meet
1973	International Championships of Romania
	Friendship Tournament
	ITA-ROM Dual Meet
	ROM-URS Dual Meet
	Romanian Team Championships
	Romanian Schools Championships
1974	Junior Romanian Championships
	ROM-POL-Denver Tri-Meet
Senior
1975	Champions All
	European Championships
	FRG-ROM Dual Meet
	Pre-Olympics
	Romanian Championships
	ROM-CAN Dual Meet
	ROM-ITA Dual Meet
1976	American Cup
	Balkan Championships
	CAN-ROM Dual Meet
	Chunichi Cup
	FRG-ROM Dual Meet
	GBR-ROM Dual Meet
	NED-ROM Dual Meet
	Olympic Games			4
	Romanian Championships
	USA-ROM Dual Meet
1977	Balkan Championships
	ESP-ROM Dual Meet I
	ESP-ROM Dual Meet II
	European Championships
	FRA-ROM Dual Meet
	International Championships of Romania
	Orleans International
	ROM-CAN Dual Meet
	USA-ROM Dual Meet
1978	ITA-ROM Dual Meet
	Milan International
	World Championships				5		8
1979	Balkan Championships
	Champions All
	European Championships				4
	International Championships of Romania
	World Championships
	World Cup Final		4
1980	International Championships of Romania
	ITA-ROM Dual Meet
	Olympic Games			5
1981	Daciada
	Summer Universiade
Source:

Books and Films About Nadia

• Nadia Comăneci's 2004 book, Letters to a Young Gymnast, is part of a series about mentoring.
• Katie Holmes directed a short documentary in 2015 for ESPN about Nadia. It was called Eternal Princess and first shown at the Tribeca Film Festival.
• In 2016, Arte France made a documentary about Nadia called Nadia Comăneci, la gymnaste et le dictateur ("Nadia Comăneci: The Gymnast and the Dictator").
• In 1984, a TV movie called Nadia was made about her life. Nadia was not involved in making the film. She later said publicly that the people who made it never contacted her. She stated, "I sincerely don't even want to see it; I feel so badly about it. It distorts my life so totally."
• In 2012, Universal Pictures chose Nadia to voice Granny Norma in the Romanian version of the animated movie The Lorax.
• In 2021, Stejărel Olaru published a book in Romanian called Nadia și Securitatea ("Nadia and the Securitate").

See also

In Spanish: Nadia Comăneci para niños