Nadia Elena Comaneci was born on November 12, 1961, in Onesti, which is a small town in the Carpathian Mountains, in Bacau County, Romania, in the historical region of Western Moldavia. Comaneci was born to Gheorghe and Stefania Comaneci, and has a younger brother. Her parents separated in the 1970s, and her father (1936-2012) later moved to Bucharest. She and her younger brother Adrian were raised in the faith of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

"At Montreal [Comaneci] received four of her seven 10s on the uneven bars. The apparatus demands such a spectacular burst of energy in such a short time--only 23 seconds--that it attracts the most fanfare. But it is on the beam that her work seems more representative of her unbelievable skill. She scored three of her seven 10s on the beam. Her hands speak there as much as her body. Her pace magnifies her balance. Her command and distance hush the crowd.  On July 18, Comaneci made history at the 1976 Summer Olympics, when during the team compulsory portion of the competition, she was awarded the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics for her routine on the uneven bars. However, Omega SA--the traditional Olympics scoreboard manufacturer-- was led to believe that it was impossible to receive a perfect ten, thus the scoreboard was not programmed to display that score. Comaneci's perfect 10 thus appeared as "1.00," the only means by which the judges could indicate that she had indeed received a 10. The crowd was at first confused, but soon understood and gave her a rousing ovation.  During the remainder of the Montreal Games, Comaneci earned six additional tens. She won gold medals for the individual all-around, the balance beam and uneven bars. She also won a bronze for the floor exercise and a silver as part of the team all-around. Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim was her main rival during the Montreal Olympics; Kim became the second gymnast to receive a perfect ten for her performance on the vault. Comaneci also took over the spotlight from Olga Korbut, who had been the darling of the 1972 Munich Games.  Comaneci's achievements are pictured in the entrance area of Madison Square Garden in New York City, where she is shown presenting her perfect beam exercise.  Comaneci was the first Romanian gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title. She also holds the record for being the youngest Olympic gymnastics all-around champion ever. The sport has now revised its age-eligibility requirements. Gymnasts must now turn 16 in the same calendar year of the Olympics to compete during the Games. When Comaneci competed in 1976, gymnasts had to be 14 by the first day of the competition. Legally breaking this record is not currently possible. She was the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year for 1976 and the Associated Press's 1976 "Female Athlete of the Year". Back home in Romania, Comaneci's success led her to be awarded the Sickle and Hammer Gold Medal, and named a Hero of Socialist Labor; she was the youngest Romanian to receive such recognition during the administration of Nicolae Ceausescu.

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