The gymnastic spearhead Nadia Comaneci was the sole reason for bringing unprecedented global popularity to the sport. At the age of 14, she touched the peak of her success mountain by earning 7 perfect 10s at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Even the then 14-year-old couldn’t fathom to which height her “personal touch” took her. Even now, 48 years later, her magnanimous gymnastic presence and the path she forged gained huge appreciation.

8 years after, at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the world witnessed another budding gymnast rising to fame. She was none other than Kathy Johnson, who earned the all-around silver and the balance beam bronze at the same event. Half a century later, she still doesn’t fail to show gratitude to the woman behind her gymnastic endeavor.

Kathy Johnson recalls the mark left by Nadia Comaneci

On a special invite by Olympics.com, Comaneci shared some stories of her heydays, which most of the world would have missed out on. Being a Romanian gymnast wasn’t a factor when she made her way to the American hearts as well, especially of Johnson’s. In response to the original post by The Olympics Games, the 64-year-old sports commentator said, “The 16-year-old version of me had only been doing elite gymnastics for a year at the time, and I felt Nadia’s remarkable impact viscerally & instantaneously on a grand scale”. Someone who feels the ‘chills’ even to this day walked the way that Comaneci paved.

But to the latter, her wins didn’t get registered in her head until she stepped at the airport, home-bound. There were 10,000 waiting to greet the golden girl. Even on today’s date, she says, “I’m thinking that the 14-year-old [version of me], the courage, the craziness and determination, I look at that 14-year-old like it’s not me”. But what made the Montreal scoreboard bow down to her?

Comaneci’s ‘personal touch’ for the win

On the uneven bars, the 9x Olympic medalist was popularly known to transition from a kip to a straddled front salto re-grab. Something other gymnasts couldn’t even imagine pulling off in their dizziest daydreams. Comaneci did that with sheer classiness –“Everybody had to do the same routine by the book. What does it mean to be better because everybody will do the same thing”. 

Going back and forth with her thoughts, she decided, “I call it the Nadia touch. I added amplitude to every skill”. For every budding artistic gymnastic who needs to know the secret behind Comaneci’s perfect 10s, her answer will do the job for them. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, there will be more Comanecis in the making.

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