Gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci has spent the past 50 years as a symbol of grace, beauty and awe-inspiring athleticism. From a career spanning both the Olympics and pop culture (she appeared on Celebrity Apprentice, for goodness sake), she has become synonymous with Olympic success, inspiring generations of athletes to work hard towards their goals, no matter how lofty. Throughout all these years, Comaneci has continued to inspire through her charity work and leadership of a gym that specializes in training kids with disabilities.
It’s only fitting, then, that the online community Reddit created a viral thread Thursday looking back at the moment Comaneci earned the first-ever perfect score of 10 at an Olympic games. The video of the 14-year-old Romanian’s performance on uneven bars is enough to leave a person speechless. The flawless routine required a tremendous burst of energy in just 23 seconds. It was a breathtaking display of skill and bravery that made the young woman a world icon at the 1976 Montreal Games.
After her Olympic debut, Comaneci went on to win five more gold medals at the World Championships in 1977 and 1980, and two silvers. She retired as a competitor in 1981 and turned to coaching, but in 1989, just weeks before the revolution that overthrew Romania’s President Nicolae Ceausescu, she defected to the United States where she married American Olympic gold-medal gymnast Bart Conner.
She has since toured the world as an inspirational speaker, and continues to lend her expertise to gymnastics analysis. She also has a foundation that helps kids with special needs, and is a proud advocate for women’s rights.
In an interview with RFE/RL in 2015, Comaneci shared that she was influenced by Ludmilla Tourischeva for her beauty and style. As a kid, she remembers watching the Soviet gymnast compete in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics and being struck by her grace on the floor.
As for her own personal inspirations now, Comaneci says she admires gymnasts who are able to maintain a balance between beauty and acrobatic skills. She cites Simone Biles and Aliya Mustafina as examples of this.
During her time as an athlete, Comaneci was constantly under surveillance by the Securitate. The surveillance was allegedly to protect her from kidnapping or ensure she didn’t defect during competitions abroad. It was a system that included dozens, possibly hundreds of people. It was a complex network, according to historian Alexandru Olaru, who consulted thousands of Securitate files while researching his book about Comaneci. Even her postman was tapped.
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