Nadia Comaneci is a Romanian gymnast who became the first woman to score a perfect 10 in an
Olympic gymnastics event in 1976, at age 14.
Nadia Elena Comaneci was born on November 12th, 1961, in Romania. Her parents are StefaniaAlexandrina and Gheorghe. She has a younger brother called Adrian. When she was seven,
Comăneci started training with Bela Károlyi, a famous
gymnast . She was one of the best students at the
gymnastics school. She had a special talent.
She won the Romanian National Junior
Championships, the European Championships in
1975 and the American Cup in 1976.
At the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia,
Comaneci won two gold and two silver medals. During
her career, Comăneci won nine Olympic medals. She
officially retired on May 7, 1984.
Everyday she got up very early. She had some
carbohydrates for breakfast and went to training sessions for eight hours. She never had lunch.
She had school lessons with a private teacher. She rarely watched TV, but she usually listened to
music or to the radio. She went to bed after taking a shower and she relaxed.
Comăneci moved to Oklahoma in 1991 because Romania had political problems. She retired from
Olympic competitions and helped her friend Bart Conner, another Olympic gold medalist, with his
gymnastics school. She returned to Romania in 1996 where she married Bart. When she was 44
years old she had her first son. His name is Dylan Conner.
Present life
At present she is fifty eight years old. Her routine is very different from the past. She usually gets
up at midday and has lunch. Then she goes to her gymnastics school. She trains kids and does
exercise. After that she participates in TV shows to get money for charity. Later she helps
gymnasts with special needs.Finally she writes for her magazine ¨International gymnasts¨
Her career was very strict and difficult, but she is happy with her achievements.
She is considered the most famous gymnast in the world.