NADIA COMANECI
One of the most popular and exciting gymnasts to compete in the Olympic
Games was the Romanian Nadia Comaneci. Fourteen-year-old Nadia burst on the
Olympic scene when she competed in 1976 in Montreal against Olga Korbut, the
great young Russian gymnast. Olga had won two gold
medals in the 1972 Olympics, and she was going to try to
repeat her victories in 1976. As Nadia watched, Olga
approached the uneven parallel bars, leaped up, caught hold of one bar,
and began her routine. She flipped, twisted, and turned. The crowd cheered,
and the judges awarded Olga a score of 9.90. It would take almost a perfect,
score of 10.00 to beat Olga. Nadia was next. She jumped and grabbed the
lower bar. She performed an incredible series of whirls and spins. She made a
dazzling dismount, and stood straight as an arrow. The crowd applauded Nadia
wildly. The judges were astonished by Nadia's performance and gave her a perfect
score of 10.00! It was the first perfect gymnastic score in the history of the Olympic
Games. Nadia won three gold medals and one silver in Montreal. Even with her
perfect scores, however, she could not be called the greatest of all women
gymnasts. That honour belongs to Larissa Latynina of the former Soviet Union,
who, in three Olympics - 1956, 1960 and 1964 - w o n nine gold, five silver, and
three bronze medals.
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