Nadia's Perfection

July 21, 1976

She was a gymnastic jewel from Romania - the said world's best, everyone. But on this perfect day at the Forum, Nadia Comaneci's performances on the uneven bars and beam vaulted her into history, because she was the first to score perfect 10s. A performance fit for a queen.

The Forum's doors had been opened to several Olympic events that summer, gymnastics among them. Everyone expected that Comaneci would shine as never before - but a perfect 10? Two 10s?

She was only 14, yet her dazzling technically perfect gold-medal performances were a highlight of that Olympics. She was the bright star up there: everyone else was somewhere down there. Russia's Nelli Kim won the silver, Ludmilla Tourischeva the bronze. World-renowned Olga Korbut, who by luck of the draw was matched up almost exclusively with Comaneci throughout the afternoon's competition, didn't even make it to the medals podium.

Comaneci owned this Olympics. She was the Games' brightest gem, its hottest number. Everywhere she went, Nadia faced an endless stream of questions.

How would she improve on a perfect 10? She was asked.

"I will learn new elements and new things."

Do all the questions bother her?

"They bother me a little."

Does anything bother her?

"Yes, when I fight with my brother."

Corrections:

No corrections to this article.