Nadia Comăneci, the gymnast and the dictator

Montreal Olympic Games, 18^th July 1976: an angel-faced young gymnast storms into the sports legend. In front of more than 5 million astounded TV viewers, a barely 14-year-old Nadia Comăneci becomes the first athlete in her discipline to obtain the never seen before perfect score, 10, achieving one of the greatest feats in Olympics history. The entire world is dazzled by her grace, her self-control and masterly style. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, audiences are overwhelmed. 

Everyone can recall the little Romanian pixie with red ribbons in her hair. In a few jaw-dropping routines, Nadia Comăneci rose to the rank of universal idol. She became a role model for millions of young girls, and reached the heights of popular Western culture in the pure Hollywood tradition. Even today, the name Comăneci still sparks the imagination, as shown by the quote above and the hundreds of thousands of “likes” on her Facebook page.