READING TIME BOOK SERIES: IT’S TIME TO READ ABOUT NADIA COMANECI

By Marco Fialho

The scoreboard was not designed to display "10.00" in gymnastics at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. It was believed that a perfect score was impossible in the sport. Then Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 was displayed as "1.00". A legend was born and there's no question that the 1976 Olympic Games belonged to the 14-year-old-girl from Romania. She brought a new dimension to gymnastics, rising to international stardom. When the Olympic Games ended, Nadia had achieved the "impossible": not only did she receive the first perfect 10 in gymnastics, but she also went on to receive a total of seven perfect scores! Since then, Nadia has become synonymous with gymnastics excellence and remains a role model for gymnasts across the world. More than four decades later, Nadia Comaneci is still loved worldwide. After all there has never been an athlete like her! CHAPTER I Little Miss Perfect Montreal Canada. July 18, 1976. The Montreal 1976 Olympic Games took place July 17 - August 1, 1976. Montreal was the first Canadian city to host such a global sport competition,which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. More than 6,000 athletes competed, representing 92 countries. During the XXI Olympic Games, athletes set more than 45 new records, including 23 in swimming and 18 in athletics. Among these athletes was a 14-year- old gymnast called Nadia Comaneci. The angel-faced girl, who wore a ribbon tied in her hair, was 5 feet tall (152cm) and weighed only 86 pounds (39 kg). Nadia seemed fragile, but in fact she was strong and fast. Besides that, the little girl was self-confident and very courageous! Before the Montreal Olympic Games, most people didn't have the slightest idea who she was or where she had come from. The tiny girl with brown eyes was from Romania, a southeastern communist European country little known to the West. Nadia was shy,very serious and rarely smiled. She was known for having few friends.The Romanian teenager lacked the charismatic smile of the popular Russian gymnast Olga Korbut, who shone brightly at Munich Games four years earlier.Nadia was an athlete who didn't show much emotion during the competitions.Usually she didn't flirt with the crowd. It was July 18, 1976, the second day of the Olympics - first day of women's gymnastics competition. Nadia would make her first appearance in the Olympic Games. She stepped up to the uneven bars and performed and incredible series of somersaults and twists. All of them were executed to absolute perfection. Nadia did something no other Olympic gymnast had ever accomplished: she scored a perfect 10! The 14-year-old girl thrilled the world with her stunning moves and became the first gymnast to achieve such a score.The 18,000 spectators cheered her wildly. Nadia's performance only lasted 19 seconds: magic seconds that will live on history forever! At the time a curious thing happened: the stadium scoreboard was not designed to display a 10, so Nadia's score read "1.00". Nadia looked at the scoreboard, confused. So did the audience! Nadia's coach, Béla Károlyi, shocked by the low score, asked for an explanation. A Swedish judge help up ten fingers to indicate a perfect score. Meanwhile, one of Nadia's teammates told her: "I think it's a 10, but they don't know how to make a 10." Then Nadia asked Béla Károlyi: "Sir, is that really a 10 score?" "You bet it is, Nadia! " the coach answered. It was really a 10 and then the announcement was made: "Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in Olympic history, Nadia Comaneci has received the perfect score of 10." The Romanian teenager, who seemingly defied gravity, fascinated the judges as well as the crowd and a very loud cheer went up again! Reflecting on her perfect score many years later, Nadia said "Scoring 10 was the biggest moment of the Olympic Games...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B09WHB6JB9
• ISBN13: 9798438478805
• Release Date: March 2022
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 70 Pages
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.2" x 5.1"