“My mother never watched me train in Romania. She wasn't allowed, it just wasn't done back then. My training was paid for by the government. My parents were not at the Olympics with me, either. I never expected them to be.”

Romanian retired gymnast

Nadia Comaneci is a Romanian retired gymnast, best known for becoming the first gymnast to receive a perfect score of 10.0 at the Olympic Games. Her Olympic career made her a central figure in the sport and one of its most recognized athletes. At the 1976 Games, when she was 14, she earned the first Olympic 10.0 and added six more on the way to three gold medals. She later won two more gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Across her career, Comaneci won nine Olympic medals and four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals.