July 18: Nadia Comăneci Scores a Perfect 10
Prayer Idea
Pray that people who are successful in their fields of endeavor will use their opportunities to mentor and encourage others.
History Note
Nadia Comăneci was born in Romania in 1961. Gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi noticed her potential when she was six years old. She placed 13th at her first national junior competition in 1969 and then won the event the next year.
After successful performances at other competitions, Nadia competed at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, at age 14. Her routine on the uneven bars on July 18 earned a perfect score of 10 out of 10. She was the first gymnast to receive this score in the Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee had told the scoreboard manufacturer that a score of 10.00 would not be possible, so the scoreboard only had 3 digits and showed “1.00”. Comăneci received six more perfect scores in Montreal and went home with three gold medals, one silver, and one bronze.
Comăneci competed again at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Russia, where she won two more gold medals and two silvers. Comăneci retired from competition in 1984.
In 1989, shortly before the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, Comăneci defected to the United States. She married an American gymnast, Bart Conner, and became a U.S. citizen in 2001.
The Conners and their business partner, Paul Ziert, have operated a gymnastics academy in Oklahoma, published International Gymnast Magazine, and run a gymnastics supply company. They have also been involved with Special Olympics and charitable activities in the United States and Romania.
Mongolia honored Nadia Comăneci with this postage stamp. Photo by rook76 / Shutterstock.com.
Learn More
See Olympic champions and married couple, Nadia Comăneci and Bart Conner.
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