Biography for
Nadia Comaneci More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

12 November 1961, Onesti, Romania

Birth Name

Nadia Elena Comãneci

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m)

Spouse

Bart Conner

(26 April 1996 - present) 1 child

Trivia

Was the first person in the Olympic History to score a perfect 10. She received the first perfect 10 on her performance on the un-even bars, where the computerized scoreboard could not register her perfect 10 mark but only able to show 1.00 point.

She remains today the most well-known gymnast in gymnastic history.

Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year 1976

Parents divorced in 1978

1976 Olympics medals: team silver, all-around gold, bars & beam gold & floor bronze

won the inaugural American Cup in 1976

The first gymnast to win 3 consecutive all-around European titles

has 1 younger brother, Adrian (born in 1967)

scored 7 perfect 10s at the 1976 Olympics Games

1980 Olympic medals: team, all-around silver, beam & floor gold

parents are Gheorghe and Stefania-Alexandrina Comãneci

retired in 1984 at the age of 22

graduates from the Physical Education and Sports in Bucharest in 1984

named after Nadezhda (meaning "hope"), heroine of a Russian film

Scored 2 perfect 10s on the balance beam and uneven bars at the 1980 Olympics

was trained by the legendary Romanian coach Bela Karolyi & his wife Marta, who also coached Mary Lou Retton, Julianne McNamara, Phoebe Mills, Kim Zmeskal, Betty Okino, & Dominique Moceanu

Fled to Hungary, then to the American Embassy in Vienna in November 1989

1975 European Championships: all-around, bars, vault & beam gold, floor silver

was the 1975 Associated Press Athlete of the Year

scored 2 perfect 10s on floor & vault at the 1976 American Cup

1977 European Championships: all-around & bars gold, vault silver

During the '77 Europeans, after protests, Nelli Kim of the USSR is awarded the vault gold over Nadia. The Romanian team leaves in protest & is disqualified from the individual competition. Nadia had to return her gold on bars.

1979 European Championships: all-around gold

defected to the U.S. in 1989

Resides in Norman, Oklahoma

won the all-around & team competition at the 1972 Romanian Junior National Championships

1976 Chunichi Cup: all-around, uneven bars, beam, floor & vault gold

1976 Balkan Championships: all-around, uneven bars, beam, floor & vault gold

1979 European Championships: all-around, floor & vault gold, uneven bars bronze

1978 Worlds: team silver, beam gold

1979 Worlds: team gold

1979 World Cup: floor & vault gold, beam silver

1978 Worlds: team & vault silver, beam gold

She is the only person to have appeared at the same time on the cover of Times, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated magazines.

1999 she was among the list of the 25 outstanding sports people of the 20th century compiled by the International Association of Sports Writers.

In 1999 she received the "World Sports Awards of the Century" in the category of the Women's Award in Athletics and General Sports.

She is the only person to have received the International Olympics Committee highest honour the Olympic Order twice (1984 and 2004) and the youngest recipient in record.

In 2000 she became the first athlete to speak in the United Nations to officially launch the International Year of Volunteers.

She is currently the Vice-Chair of International Olympics Committee, Hon. President of the Romanian Olympic Committee, Hon. President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, Vice President of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Founding Member of the Laureus Sports Academy, Member of the International Gymnastics Federation Foundation and many more international charity organizations. She is active in promoting gymnastics and sports and actively working for charity works around the globe. Nadia Comaneci is now working in building a clinic for the Romanian homeless children and orphanage, the Nadia Comaneci Children's Clinic.

Gave birth to a son, Dylan Paul (born June 3, 2006 in Oklahoma City)

Personal Quotes

Do not pray for an easy life, pray to be a strong person.

I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.

One of the most difficult times in my life was when I escaped from Romania in November of 1989.

Where Are They Now

(July 2008) Norman, Oklahoma