WHERE WERE YOU WHEN Nadia Comaneci got the first ever perfect 10 - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Celebrity WHERE WERE YOU WHEN Nadia Comaneci got the first ever perfect 10 By You Magazine - June 23, 2019 In her own words, the gymnast recalls her record-breaking Olympic achievement – and her life’s swift return to normality. I got into gymnastics because, like many kids, I had too much energy. I loved the gym – it was just like a playground. For my parents, it meant I wasn’t doing crazy things in our house in Romania, where I grew up. I was only 14 years old when I went to Montreal to compete in the Olympics. I remember walking around the Olympic Village, among all these high-profile athletes I’d only ever seen before on television. When it came to the day of the competition, all I was hoping for was not to make any mistakes. I remember thinking, ‘I just have to do the same routines I do in training’. The only difference is there were a lot more people watching. Nadia on the balance beem: she won three gold medals at the montreal Olympics. Image: Leo Mason/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images I was the last one competing on the uneven bars and, when I finished, I was more interested in getting to my next event than checking the scoreboard. I don’t usually look because I roughly know how many points I’ll get on the basis of how I performed – then, I thought I’d get a 9.9. I only looked because I heard all the noise in the arena. There was a lot of confusion at first because the board was showing a 1.0 – which wasn’t very good for the performance! My teammate was trying to tell me that there was something wrong with it, that it was supposed to be a 10, but the music started and I had to go to my next event – the beam. I knew it was a big deal, but I hadn’t realised that no one had ever got a perfect 10 before me. I didn’t know I’d made history [Nadia received six more perfect 10s and won three gold medals]. It only sank in when I got back to Romania and there were 10,000 people at the airport. After that, my life went on as normal – going to the gym, to school. The only thing that changed was that people would point at me in the street and say, ‘This is the girl with a 10!’ Now I live in Oklahoma with my husband Bart [Conner, a former US Olympic gymnast], where we run a gymnastics academy. I still go back to Romania five or six times a year – I opened a gym for children there called GymNadia. Also that month… Waring Abbott/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Fire destroyed the famous pier head at the end of the world’s longest pier in Southend, Essex. The UK heatwave peaked at 35.9C in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. David Steel was elected as the new leader of the Liberal Party. Elton John and Kiki Dee reached number one in the charts with ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.’ RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR 50 of the best celebrity Halloween costumes of all time Shirley Ballas ‘ Strictly gave me back my hope’ Davina McCall discusses how men can help women going through the menopause Popular in Celebrity TV chef Gino D Acampo on Sardinia Sophia Loren and scary salads May 25, 2017 The Evergreen Goddess Exercise guru Diana Moran on looking fit and July 10, 2017 More more Julianne Moore November 13, 2017 Author Jill Mansell on designer notebooks commissioning art and the family January 16, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES Kelly Hoppen on vodka vintage finds and being a April 4, 2018 ‘ I have no regrets’ Millie Mackintosh on divorce debt and reuniting May 20, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES TV presenter and tennis player Annabel Croft shares her July 1, 2018 Stella Parton ‘ Dolly and I have always been close’ August 12, 2018 Anna Friel on getting jeered in the street shared parenting with September 23, 2018 Queen of primetime Charlotte Riley on juggling rising stardom with pregnancy October 21, 2018 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved