Comaneci, Nadia, << `koh` muh NEECH or `kaw` mah NEHCH, NAH dee uh >> (1961-…), a Romanian gymnast, became the first gymnast to receive a perfect score of 10 in the Olympic Games. In the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, Comaneci earned scores of 10 seven times. She won gold medals in the uneven parallel bars, balance beam, and all-around competitions. In the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Comaneci won gold medals in the balance beam and floor exercise events.
Comaneci was born on Nov. 12, 1961, in Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (now Onesti), Romania. She began her gymnastics career at the age of 6, after Bela Karolyi, a famous gymnastics coach, discovered her. She defected to the United States in 1989 and became a U.S. citizen in 2001. Comaneci married American gymnastics star Bart Conner in 1996.
