OAP: "Nadia Comaneci - The Perfect Ten"

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Saturday, June 16, 2007

Nadia Comaneci - The Perfect Ten

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Do you still remember Nadia Comaneci?

Personally, I don't know who Nadia was, until lately when I started researching about her life and achievements. I'm now a fan. What was she thinking when she scored a perfect 10 at the age of 14. I'm not sure how big the gymnastics scene was in Manila and how many people still remembers her. My younger brother, Rommel was just born when Nadia scored the perfect 10 in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Let me know if you are a fan and any more interesting stories about her glory days are very much welcome...

Nadia Comanici @ 1976 Montreal Olympics
(source: Wikipedia)

"At the age of 14, Comaneci became one of the stars of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. During the team portion of the competition, her routine on the uneven bars was scored at a 10.0. It was the first time in Olympic gymnastics history that the score, which signified a perfect routine without any deductions, had ever been awarded. The scoreboards were not even equipped to display scores of 10.0--so Nadia's perfect marks were reported on the boards as 1.00 instead. [2] Over the course of the Olympics, Comaneci would earn six additional 10s, en route to capturing the all-around, beam and bars titles and a bronze medal on the floor exercise...

"Comaneci was the first Romanian gymnast to win the all-around title at the Olympics. She also holds the record as the youngest Olympic gymnastics all-around champion ever; with the revised age-eligibility requirements in the sport (gymnasts must now turn 16 instead of 15 in the calendar year to compete in the Olympics), this record will stand indefinitely.

"Comaneci's achievements at the Olympics generated a significant amount of media attention. The theme song from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless became associated with her after the television program ABC Wide World Of Sports used it as background music for montages of her routines. The song became the best seller of the year 1976, and the song writer renamed it to "Nadia's Theme" after her. "

June 16, 2007 in 13. Awesome Happenings in Manila circa 2005 onwards | Permalink | Save to del.icio.us | Digg This | Email this post