At 32, former Olympic great still involved in gymnastics
Writer: C. Anthony Mosser / Special
Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Published: 05-07-1994

Q&A WITH NADIA COMANECI

Romanian-born Nadia Comaneci, now 32, stunned the gymnastics world
when she became an Olympic champion at age 14 at the 1976 Games,
receiving the first perfect score of 10 in Olympic gymnastics history. 

She defected from Romania four years ago and now lives in Norman, Okla.
Comaneci, her manager Paul Ziert and U.S. Olympic champion Bart
Conner run a gymnastics academy there and do approximately 40 shows a
year. 

Comaneci recently was in Plano for the grand opening of the World
Gymnastics Academy. 

How has gymnastics changed? 

It's more difficult than it was. It was difficult when I did it the first time.
Gymnastics has developed. The coaching is better, but mainly the level of
difficulty is the big change. Many years ago, the double-back somersault was
a big deal, and now they do the triple-back somersault. 

How involved are you in gymnastics? 

I still do gymnastics shows. This is one of the things I do, but it is not
specifically all that I do. It's about 25 percent of what I do. 

What do you see for the future of the sport? 

There have been a lot of changes with the falling of the communistic system.
I see Americans are good. I see Romanians are the ones who pretty much
should have the best team in 1996. The republics that were the former Soviet
Union are going to be good. It's going to be interesting for the United States.
We're not really sure if Shannon Miller (now 17) is going to make it to the
Olympics in '96. She may be on the team, but she may not be able to win.
She may be at the age to retire from gymnastics. 

When did you retire from competition? 

My last official competition was in '81. I was 20. Gymnastics is different,
because when you are growing, you are taller, and it's not as easy to do. 

How does the way Americans train young gymnasts differ from the way you
were trained? 

There are different levels of training. At the level of an Olympic and world
champion, you spend a lot of hours training, and you never stop devoting lots
of hours. It basically depends on how much a person can take, because not
every person's the same. I think I was pretty tough. Not everybody can
reach that level. The key thing in getting involved in this sport is if they like to
do it. 

Looking back, what was it like being thrust into the international limelight at
age 14 as an Olympic champion? 

I didn't look at it that way because I didn't understand. I thought the people
made such a big deal from that. To me, it was a little thing. I was amused by
that. I was amused by all kinds of people coming to interview me. Now I
understand. 

What led to your decision to defect? 

Freedom. 

Have you been back to Romania? 

No. We have to plan my going back to Romania. I want to do something, but
I'm not sure exactly what. I'm going to sponsor the Romanian team in '96.
I'm going to give them over $100,000 as this sponsorship. 

Any plans for you and Bart Conner? 

Marriage, you mean? Yes, definitely, but haven't set any date. 

How difficult is it knowing that nothing you ever do likely will surpass your
accomplishments at age 14? 

In gymnastics, I can't be better than I was. I know that, and that doesn't
bother me. I do a lot of different things. In everything I do, I'm trying to be
perfect. That's probably a little bad, but that's the way I am.