Back Nadia Comaneci - the queen
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When you first start training gymnastics, the main thing is give your best.
The difference between the the heavyweights in this sport and the poor little ones is on what  best means and on how you get it.
For Nadia, being the best was ataining perfection without having a clue of what happeneded around her. Without realizing that the lost childhood was having an effect on how the world would see her from then on in a way impossible to explain.
Yes; it is not racional that millions of fully grown-up adults start acting like teenagers because of a tiny, defenseless, fourteen-year old little romanian that comes up to do what she'd always done.
But when you break the dominance of a world giant in almost everything, ataining perfection for the first time in the most important sports' event, dazzling millions of people and the most exigeant judges, making it impossible that other competitors - the best in the world - beat you, and carry on as a matter of routine, you have all the requirements to become a legend.
And that was what Nadia did. She dazzled.
Nadia Elena Comaneci was born on November 12, 1961, in Onesti, first child of Gheorghe and Stefania-Alexandrina Comaneci. She was introducted to the sport by Marcel Duncan; as young Nadia became pretty good at it, she was transfered to a gym club in 1967 coached by Martha Karolyi and Valeriu Munteanu. By this time, her brother is born.
She keeps practicing, and is accepted in the new Gymnastics High School two years later, coached by Martha and assited by her husband, Bela Karolyi.
Her first competition didn't go on very well; in 1970 nine-year old Nadia competes in her first national competition, with her team, Onesti. Her team won, but it wasn't surely because of her; her 7.25 on the beam, due to three falls, represents a major turning point in her attitude towards gymnastics. It did work. In 1971 and 1972 she wins Jr. National all around title.
In 1971 she starts to have a taste of international gold, in Ljubliana (Yugoslavia), winning the all around And, three years later, one presumes that Ludmila Turisheva, her idol lowers a bit on Nadia's eyes. In France, Nadia and her teammate Teodora Ungureanu participate in an exibition, where they absolutely steal the show, making the USSR's gymnasts no more than mere shadows.
In January 1975 she becomes finally eligible to compete at senior level.
Beware, ladies and gentlemen. Nadia Comaneci will start to play.
Actually, in May that same year, the thirteen-year old beats all the big guns at the European Championship in Norway; the rising soviet star Nelli Kim, seventeen, takes the silver. Not stisfied yet, Nadia earns gold also on bars, beam AND vault, only letting escape the title on the floor to Kim, staying with the silver. She's on her way to receive, in the same year, the Associated Press Athlete of the Year prize.
On March 76 she wins the first American Cup competition, held in New York, scoring two 10's on vault and on floor.
Posing with her for the photos is the winner of the men's competition, Bart Conner. She would think about him again in the future.
And here we are in Montr�al, Canada, for the XXI edition of the Olympic Games.
Despite her early success, Nadia is unknown for everyone but the russians. Nelli Kim and Olga Korbut the world's darling of Munique' 72, are he ones who get all the media atention - in the beggining.
On July the 18th, on the team exercises Nadia Comaneci gives her jump to imortality; on Bars she scores the first ever 10 in the Olympic history. The judges couldn't believe on what they were seeing; defying the laws of gravity was a little Romanian, producing something absolutely astounding.
From then on, Nadia stole the show.
Nelli, Olga, Ludmila, no matter how hard they tried, no matter how good they were, they seemed just not as good as Comaneci, the fluidity personified, a bomb of strength that in the very next day scored two more perfect scores on Beam and Bars, leading her team to a silver medal position.
Reporters from all over the world struggled to get a word from the young prodigy. The best american magazines, such as Newsweek, dedicated their front pages to her. Everybody knew a legend was born; they just couldn't believe it was such a tender girl, so misterious as non-expressive. And they started trying to make a personal rivalry born between Korbut and Nadia.
But Comaneci looked as worried with Korbut's performances as with the agriculture in Polynesia. She only seemed peoccupied with Karolyi's approvance. If he bowed next to her routine, then everything was okay.
And the big day arrived. The all around final.
Out of a possible 80.00, Nadia scored 79.275.
And a near-perfect exibition easily earned her the Olympic title.
As if she could realize that. Bela seemed to control her completely, and for Nadia it was just another victory.
Nothing more.
She didn't realize what a big acomplishment it was, so it was quite self-confident that she went to the event finals.
She launched herself to perfection again, becoming Bars and Beam champion, scoring all perfect scores along the board.
On the Floor, an irritated Nelli Kim does her best.
And she gets the first ever perfect 10 on Floor, getting her first apparatus gold medal. All around bronze medalist Ludmila Turisheva takes the silver, Nadia Comaneci the bronze.
On the Vault final, Kim jumps to perfection again; the first perfect vault in an edition of the Olympic Games secures her on 1st position.
Comaneci stays in 4th.
People are fascinated with her; the romanian is called everywhere by the press, is head of newspapers, is the       legend.
In the following years she will continue her brilliant career, until the moment that Bela Karolyi is removed as Nadia's coach because of a scandal during the World Championships when the Soviet Union wins the individual competition becuse of a protest due to a judging error in favor of Nadia. The Romanians, leeded by Bela, leave the competition in protest, and the Bars gold of Nadia had to be returned for disqualification.
By then, Nadia, apart from Karolyi and coached by Gheorghe Condovici, Iosif Hidi and Antanasia, tries suicide She is hospitalized for poisoning; however, in 1978 she is competing again in the World Champs.
She falls in the all around and loses the       chance of a title; but wins the Beam. She goes on, until Bela Karolyi returns to coach her.
It works.
Taking the all around title in the European Championships she makes history by winning for the third straight time.
In the 1980 Moscow Olympics she is simply defeated by Elena Davydova, after a 27 minute discussion by the judges that give Elena the victory by the slightest margin.
But in the apparatus finals she is awesome again, retaining her Beam title as well as Floor, and taking a silver on Vault.
In 1981 the Romanian team goes to USA on tour. The coaches, Martha and Bela, decide to defect; despite the asking of Nadia, she returns to Romania.
On her last major competition, at the World University Games, she wins all five gold medals.
Between 1984 and 1989 she works for the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, coaching Jr. National team.
In 1984, at 22, she oficially retires from competition.
Her life from now on is quite obscure; some say she was Constantin Panait mistress, despite his wife and children, some say she was a victim of circunstances and his wish for easy       money by publicity. Who knows?
Anyway, the thing is in 1996 she marries Bart Conner (I told you she would think about him again), and in 1999 she finishes the milenium with a host of awards and citations as one of the great female athletes of the century. In December 2000, she is invited as the spokesperson for UN to launch the International Year of Volunteers.
If anyone can be called of victim of the system, that one is Nadia Comaneci. She illustrates how awful the comunism could be; how the government can take the control of a citizen's life.
But the sad thing is that she's not the only one.
Thanks, www.nadiacomaneci.com, for all the info!
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