NADIA COMANECI LANDS IN US - OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST IS GRANTED ASYLUM, ENDS SUSPENSE ABOUT WHEREABOUTS
Author: By Pat Milton, Associated Press
Date: Saturday, December 2, 1989
Page: 3
Section: NATIONAL/FOREIGN

NEW YORK -- Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, the darling of the 1976 Olympics with her seven perfect 10s, landed in the United States yesterday after her stunning defection three days earlier.

"I wanted to have a free life," Comaneci, who was guaranteed political asylum, said in halting English at a news conference at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Asked how long she had thought about defecting, she replied: "A long time. I had it in my mind for a few years."

The 28-year-old Comaneci arrived on a Pan Am plane from Vienna just before 4:30 p.m., an airline spokesman said.

Comaneci -- wearing a blue denim jacket, black shirt and jeans -- said she was not thinking about embarrassing her country's government when she made her decision.

"It's not my business," she said. The Olympic gold medalist also said she was looking forward to a change in lifestyle. "I know it will be different," she said. "I was nine times in the States; I know the life here."

Comaneci was surrounded by Port Authority police as she walked through the Pan Am terminal about 25 feet away from a horde of reporters. Clutching a bouquet of flowers, Comaneci kept her head down as she entered a private Pan Am office, where she filled out forms.

Comaneci appeared pale as she strode briskly through the terminal, but the gymnast later smiled broadly as she walked toward an airport lounge for a news conference.

She was accompanied to her news conference by Constanti Panit, a Frenchman who said he was a friend of Comaneci's.

The gymnast was to spend the night in New York at an undisclosed location, and two persons familiar with her plans, who spoke only on condition that their names not be used, said she intended to leave for Miami today.

Her former coach, Bela Karolyi, said earlier her final destination was Indianapolis, headquarters of the US Gymnastics Federation. But Patti Auer, spokeswoman for the federation, said they had no word of Comaneci coming there.

A Justice Department spokesman, David Runkel, confirmed that Comaneci, who fled her homeland for Hungary on Tuesday, had been granted refugee status and was "in the air on her way to this country."

Comaneci contacted a US Embassy in Europe yesterday morning and was quickly granted that status, said Richard Boucher, State Department deputy spokesman. "We certainly welcome Ms. Comaneci," he added.

The approval of refugee status means US officials believe Comaneci has a well-founded fear of persecution if she returns to Romania, where the hard-line Marxist government has rejected the pressure for change sweeping other East European countries.

She would be eligible to apply for permanent resident status in the United States in one year, US officials said.

Comaneci has been in hiding since fleeing Romania. She reportedly told a Hungarian border guard she was leaving "for the sake of freedom."

Her whereabouts and plans were unknown until word of her impending arrival in New York came yesterday. Karolyi had encouraged Comaneci earlier this week to follow his example and come to the United States.

Karolyi defected from Romania in 1981. It was initially believed Comaneci would return to the United States with Karolyi from Stuttgart, West Germany, where his team is competing.