Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner is a retired Romanian gymnast. She is a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 in the history of the Olympic Games. In the same Games of 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, she earned six more perfect 10s for events which helped her win three gold medals. Further, at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, she achieved two more perfect 10s and won two more gold medals. During her career, Nadia won nine Olympic medals and four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals.

Nadia is one of the world’s best-known gymnasts and has been credited for popularizing the sport worldwide. In 2000 by the Laureus World Sports Academy, she was named one of the Athletes of the 20th Century. She also serves as president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, president of the Romanian Olympic Committee, is an active member of the International Gymnastics Federation Foundation, and is the sports ambassador of Romania. Nadia, with her husband, owns and manages the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy, the Perfect 10 Production Company, and many sports equipment shops. The couple is also the editors of International Gymnast Magazine. 

In addition, Nadia is involved in fundraising for several charities. She has funded the construction and operation of the Nadia Comăneci Children’s Clinic in Bucharest, which provides low-cost, free medical and social support to Romanian children. In 2003, she was appointed by the Romanian government as a consul general of Romania to the United States to deal with relations between the two nations. In addition, both Nadia and Bart are involved with the Special Olympics. Further, she participated in Donald Trump’s reality show, season seven, and The Celebrity Apprentice to raise money for charity. 

Nadia Comaneci Early Life:

Nadia was born on 12th November 1961 in Onești, a town in the Carpathian Mountains in Bacău County, Romania. Currently, she is 60. 

After their parent’s separation, Nadia and her brother were raised in the Romanian Orthodox Church.  

Since 1989, she had lived in the United States when she defected from then-Communist Romania before its revolution in December of that year. Nadia later married American Olympic gold-medal gymnast Bart Conner. In the early 2000s, she became a  United States citizen and has dual citizenship, maintaining her Romanian citizenship. 

Nadia Comaneci Family Background: 

Nadia was born to Gheorghe and Ștefania-Alexandrina Comăneci and had a younger brother named Adrian. In the 1970s, her parents separated, and later her father moved to the capital Bucharest. 

Nadia Comaneci Education:

After being a top-level athlete for years, Nadia graduated with a sports education degree from the Politehnica University of Bucharest. Which also qualified her to coach gymnastics. 

Nadia Comaneci Physical stats:

Nadia stands 5 ft 3.5 in and weighs around 55kg. She has a slim body shape. In addition, her blonde hair and beautiful dark brown eyes go well with her fair complexion and stunning smile. 

Though Nadia is in her 60s, she has gorgeous maintain her physics, through daily excises, including running, light weights, and stretching; her routine also includes a healthy diet plan. 

Nadia Comaneci Birth Signs:

Nadia’s sun and star sign are Scorpio. Her birth flower is Chrysanthemum, and the birth sign element is Water. Further, Scorpio’s opposite sign is Taurus. 

Nadia Comaneci Net worth:

Nadia estimated networth is $10 million; she is a retired gymnastic and five-time Olympic gold medalist. 

Nadia Comaneci Relationship Status: 

Nadia has been married to Bart Conner since 1996. The wedding was held in Bucharest and was televised live throughout Romania. The newly married couple’s reception was held in the former presidential palace. In 2006, they welcomed their son Dylan. 

Nadia knew Bart from her athletic days; he is an Olympic gold medalist too. When Nadia crossed the Hungary–Romania border around Cenad weeks before the Romanian Revolution, she was on foot and traveled through Hungary and Austria. She finally took a plane to the United States. in 1991, she moved to Oklahoma with the help of her friend and future husband Bart. They dated for four years before getting engaged. 

On 18th May 1997, the couple guest-starred on the Season 3 finale of Touched by an Angel and performed a brief floor exercise within a montage scene. 

Nadia Comaneci Career:

Nadia began her gymnastics steps in her kindergarten days, with a local team Flacăra (“The Flame”), under the coaches Duncan and Munteanu. At six, she got an opportunity to attend Béla Károlyi’s experimental gymnastics school, as Károlyi spotted her and a friend in a schoolyard. Károlyi was looking for gymnasts to train from a young age. In 1968, at seven, Nadia started her training with coach Károlyi and was one of the first students at the gymnastics school in Onești, which Béla and his wife, Márta, established. As a town resident, Nadia had an advance to live at home for training years; but most of the students boarded at the school.

In 1970 Nadia started competing as a member of her hometown team and, at nine, she earned to become the youngest gymnast who win the Romanian Nationals. In 1971 her debut international competition, in a dual junior meet between Romania and Yugoslavia, Nadia won her first all-around title and contributed to the team’s gold. Later, for a few years, she competed as a junior in several national contests in Romania and dual meets with countries such as Italy, Hungary, and Poland. In 1973, at age 11, she won the all-around gold, the vault, and uneven bars titles at the Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba). An important international meet for junior gymnasts.

When Nadia was 13, her first major international success came at the 1975 European Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships held at Skien (Norway). She earned the all-around and gold medals in every event, excluding the floor exercise, in which she achieved second. That year Nadis enjoyed her success by winning the all-around at the ‘Champions All’ competition and coming first in the all-around, beam, vault, and bars at the Romanian National Championships. Later, in the pre-Olympic test event in Montreal, she won the all-around and the balance beam golds along with silvers in the floor, vault, and bars. In those events, accomplished Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim won the golds and was one of Nadia’s greatest rivals for the next five years. 

Further, in March 1976, Nadia competed in Manhattan for the inaugural edition of the American Cup at Madison Square Garden. She received scores of 10, which signified a perfect routine without any deductions, for her vault in the preliminary stage and her floor exercise routine in the final of the all-around competition, she won a silver cup. After a few months, she participated in the 1976 Summer Olympics. Nadia received four of her seven 10s on the uneven bars At Montreal. In the Olympics, the burst of energy in a short time (only 23 seconds) attracted the most fanfare. But her incredible skill was on the beam, scoring three of her seven 10s.

On 18th July 1976, Nadia made history at the Montreal Olympics. she earned her first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics for her routine on the uneven bars. Omega SA, the official Olympics scoreboard manufacturer, had never programmed the scoreboard to display this score. Her perfect score of 10 appeared as “1.00,” at that time, it was the only way to indicate her score of 10. In the remaining Montreal Games, Nadia earned six additional “10s”. She won gold medals for the individual all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam; she gained silver as part of the team all-around and a bronze for the floor exercise. 

In 1976, she was ranked as the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year and “Female Athlete of the Year” in the Associated Press 1976. Back in her homeland in Romania, she was awarded the Sickle and Hammer Gold Medal for her achievements and named a Hero of Socialist Labor. It was during the administration of Nicolae Ceaușescu when she was awarded, marking her the youngest Romanian to receive such recognition. 

In 1977, championship competition Nadia successfully defended her all-around European title. Other participants raised many questions about the scoring at the competition, and Ceaușescu ordered the Romanian gymnasts to return home. The team followed orders and walked out of the competition during the event finals. After this instance, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation removed Nadia from her coach, Károlyis, and, on 23rd, sent her to Bucharest to continue her training at the sports complex. This change was not felt positive by her, and her body was also changing as she grew older; this resulted in suffering in her gymnastics skills and led her to attempt suicide, but she survived. Later, Nadia competed in the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg. She finished fourth-place in all-around and earned the world title on beam and a silver on vault. After this performance, she was permitted to return to her earlier coaches. In 1979, Nadia won her third consecutive European all-around title, marking her the first male or female gymnast to achieve this feat. 

Same year December, she was hospitalized for blood poisoning at the World Championships in Fort Worth that December. She competed on the beam against the doctor’s will and scored a 9.95. With her performance, the Romanians got their first team gold medal. After that, she was in the hospital for several days and underwent a minor surgical procedure.

In the 1980 Summer Olympics, Nadia was chosen to participate. She won two gold medals, first for the floor exercise and the other for the balance beam; she also won two silver medals, one for individual all-around and one for the team all-around. 

In 1981, the Gymnastics Federation informed Nadia that she would be part of an official tour of the United States titled “Nadia ’81,” and her coaches, Márta Károlyi and Béla, would lead the group as part of the Romanian delegation. 

On the last day of the tour, Béla and Márta Károlyi defected, along with a team choreographer Géza Pozsár, a Romanian. Before defecting, Károlyi hinted a few times to Nadia about his plans and asked her if she wanted to join him indirectly. At that time, she was not interested in defecting and wanted to go home to Romania. Later, with the defection of the Károlyis, life changed drastically for Nadia in Romania. Officials feared that she would also do the same and felt she was a national asset; they started strictly monitoring her actions. Also did not allow her to travel outside the country.

Later, the government did allow her to participate in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The Romanian government continued Nadia’s restriction from leaving Romania but allowed only a few select trips to Cuba and Moscow. In 1984, the official retired; this ceremony occurred in Bucharest and was attended by the chairman of the International Olympic Committee. 

In honor of Nadia’s achievements, a picture portraying her perfect beam exercise is set at the entrance of Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Further, in October 2017, in Montreal, an area in the Olympic Park was renamed “Place Nadia Comaneci” in her honor. Nadia was also the first Romanian gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title. She holds the record in all-around champion as the youngest ever Olympic gymnastics. Now the age-eligibility requirements have been revised. Gymnast participants must be at least 16 in the same calendar year to compete during the Games. When Nadia competed in 1976, the eligibility age was 14 by the first day of the competition. The changes to age eligibility resulted in the record not being broken. 

On 4th July 2012, at the 50th annual Independence Day Naturalization Ceremony in Monticello, Nadia was the featured speaker and the first athlete invited to speak in the ceremony’s history. 

Nadia Comaneci Social Appearance:

Nadia has a Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram profile with mre than 181k, 435K, and 150K followers, respectively. She has many recent and old pictures and posted many promotional pictures of brands on these accounts. 

Summary:

Nadia Comaneci’s career itself predicts her achievement and success. In the world of Gymnasts, she has set a milestone. Our warm wishes are always with her.