Nadia Elena Comaneci was born on November 12, 1961 in Onesti, Moldova, Rumania. Her family consisted of her parents, Gheorge and Stefania-Alexandria, and a younger brother, Adrian. She was a very energetic little girl that loved to tumble in the schoolyard with her friends. In fact, it was there that her lifelong coach, Bela Karolyi first spotted her at the age of six doing cartwheels. He noticed that she had a natural talent and convinced her parents to let her train in gymnastics. With his wife and fellow coach, Marta, Bela helped Nadia develop into an elite gymnast at a very young age. She joined the Romanian National Junior Team. With his focus and her hard work, Bela and Nadia would one day make history together.
Nadia was accepted into the Gymnastics High School, where she went to school for five hours a day, and worked out for four hours in the gym. The Karolyi philosophy on gymnastics was that young girls with tiny bodies could perform the tough tricks better than the older gymnasts with womanly figures. Nadia seemed to prove this theory as time progressed. She competed at the 1970 Romanian National Championships by age eight. She followed that by winning the all-around titles in her age group at the 1971 and 1972 Championships. Nadia won her first international competition in 1971 in the former Yugoslavia. In 1975, she won the European Championships in Skien, Norway. She won three golds and one silver. After winning the all-around title at the 1975 Pre-Olympics competition, she was named "Athlete of the Year" by the Associated Press.
Then at the tender age of fourteen, Nadia became the darling of the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. After completing a flawless compulsory routine on the uneven bars, the judges awarded Nadia the first perfect 10.0 ever in Olympic competition. She went on to receive six more perfect tens. In addition, she won three gold medals for the individual all-around, balance beam, and uneven bars. As if that weren't enough, she added a team silver and a bronze for the floor exercise. Though she had received nineteen perfect tens prior to competing in Montreal, it took the international exposure of the Olympic Games to elevate Nadia to icon status. She was known as a "Hero of Socialist Labor" in her home country, a very coveted title and unprecedented for someone so young.
In the years following the 1976 Montreal Games, Nadia began to have many personal problems that threatened to derail her gymnastics career. She found it difficult to cope with her fame and to relate to the people around her. Her parents divorced and Nadia suffered emotionally. She began to lean on her coaches, Bela in particular, much more. She defended her European Championships title successfully in 1977, but was not so fortunate the following year. Nadia had grown and gained a lot of weight. She was out of shape when she competed in 1978. She fell from the uneven bars, causing her to finish in fourth place. She did manage to win the gold on beam, but that was overshadowed by the Romanian team's walk out during the event finals to protest controversial scoring. After some further controveries involving her coach's outspoken ways, Nadia went through a period where she had to change coaches. Her training suffered and it showed in all of her performances.
After hitting rock bottom in an alleged suicide attempt, Nadia sought out Bela's help. He worked with Nadia to find her passion and infuse that spirit back into her gymnastics. She trained hard and fought her way back. Nadia slimmed down and managed to win a third consecutive European Championship title. Though she stood a good chance to win the all around title at the 1980 World Championships, Nadia suffered from blood poisoning from a cut on her wrist from her metal grip buckle. Though she was in severe pain, Nadia competed anyway and helped the Romanians win their first ever team gold.
To cap off her comeback, Nadia returned to the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics to win second in the individual all-around, gold on the balance beam, and tied for the gold medal in the floor exercise, and a team silver. Nadia would compete well in her last major competition in 1981 at the World University Games. She decided to retire and begin another troubled chapter in her life. Her former coaches, the Karolyis would defect to America. When Nadia attended the 1984 Olympic Games in the U.S., she was kept under strict surveillance.
Between 1984 and 1989, she coached junior gymnasts for the Romanian National Team. Nadia became unhappy with her country and even though she enjoyed many perks that others did not due to her fame, she did not have many freedoms. In 1989, she defected to the U.S. She arrived amid a cloud of controversary, but Nadia overcame this like she overcame every other problem she ever faced. She persevered.
Nadia spent the next several years doing promotional tours and endorsed several products such as gymnastics apparel and exercise equipment. In 1994, Nadia became engaged to fellow gymnsast, Bart Connor. Two years later, Nadia returned to Romania to marry the man of her dreams. Together they created a mini empire in the gymnastics world. They opened up the Bart Connor Gymnastics Academy, the Perfect Ten Production Company, a number of athletic equipment stores, and serve as International Gymnast magazine editors. Nadia has gone on to earn many more honors in her distinguished career. She is the Vice-Chair of the Board Of Directors of International Special Olympics, the Honorary President of Romanian Gymnastics Federation, the Honorary President of Romanian Olympics Committee, the Ambassador Of Sports Of Romania, a Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and a Member of International Gymnastics Federation Foundation. In 1999, she became the first athlete ever to speak to the United Nations to usher in the 2000 International Year of Volunteers.
In 2001, Nadia became an official citizen of the U.S. and continues to coach gymnasts today. She still speaks at events around the country from time to time. If it's possible Nadia has grown beyond her icon status with all of her amazing accomplishments. From her perfect ten to her endearing personality, Nadia has become a legend in her own time. She continues to be an inspiration to gymnasts everywhere. They all strive to be the 'next Nadia.' As for Nadia's relationship with Bela and Marta Karolyi, they keep in touch and are both happy to be free to pursue their dreams.
