IN: 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.

Did she receive any metals or awards

OUT: She won gold medals for the individual all-around, the balance beam and uneven bars.


IN: Katherine Harris (born April 5, 1957) is an American politician, elected in 1998 as Secretary of State of Florida and in 2002 to the United States House of Representatives from Florida. A Republican, Harris won the 2002 election to represent Florida's 13th congressional district, serving for two terms, from 2003 to 2007. Harris lost her campaign in 2006 for a United States Senate seat from Florida. In 1994, Harris was noted for the most expensive campaign for the Florida Senate to date, winning her seat that year in her entry into electoral politics.

As Secretary of State for the State of Florida (and co-chair of George W. Bush's election efforts in Florida), Harris was a central figure in the 2000 US presidential election in Florida. The election between Al Gore and George W. Bush was so close in Florida, separated by 537 votes, that a recount of the votes was called for.  After several recounts were inconclusive and the laws governing recounts were unclear, Harris halted the recounting process. She certified that the Republican candidate, Texas Governor George W. Bush, had defeated the Democratic candidate, Vice President Al Gore, in the popular vote of Florida and thus certified the Republican slate of electors. This victory in Florida allowed Bush to win the election. Her ruling was upheld in the state circuit court, but was subsequently overturned on appeal by the Florida Supreme Court.  The Florida Supreme Court decision was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. (2000) In a per curiam decision, by a 7-2 vote, the Court in Bush v. Gore held that the Florida Supreme Court's method for recounting ballots was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. By a 5-4 vote, the US Supreme Court held that no alternative method for a recount could be established within the time limits set by the State of Florida.  The decision allowed Harris' previous certification of Bush as the winner of Florida's electoral votes to stand. Florida's 25 electoral votes gave Bush, the Republican candidate, 271 electoral votes, defeating Gore, who ended up with 266 electoral votes (with one D.C. elector abstaining).  Harris later published Center of the Storm, her memoir of the 2000 election controversy.

Why did she stop the process?

OUT:
several recounts were inconclusive and the laws governing recounts were unclear,