Nadia Comaneci

At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada, a 14-year-old Romanian dynamo captured the hearts and minds of the world with her daring and perfection. We came to know her simply as "Nadia." By the time the 1976 Olympics ended, Comaneci had earned seven perfect tens, three gold medals, one bronze, one silver and countless fans. She appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated, all in the same week, and returned home to Romania to a heroine's welcome.

Four years later, at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Comaneci earned two more gold medals and two silvers to bring her Olympic total to 9 medals (5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze.) In 1996, Comaneci was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. 1n April 1996, Comaneci married American Olympic Champion, Bart Conner, in a Romanian state wedding. Comaneci now divides her time among appearances, commercial endorsements for major companies, speaking engagements and charity events. In December of 2003, Comaneci released a book called Letters to a Young Gymnast detailing her inspirational story.

Currently, Comaneci and Bart are business partners with their manager, Paul Ziert in the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy, International Gymnast Magazine, Perfect 10 Productions, Inc. (a TV production company) and Grips, Etc. (a gymnastics supply company). In 1999, Comaneci was honored by ABC News and Ladies Home Journal as one of the 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century. Comaneci, who is also fluent in French and English, continues to travel the world with her various interests.

She personally funded the construction and operation of the Nadia Comaneci Children's Clinic in Bucharest that provides low-cost and free medical and social support to Romanian children. In 2003, the Romanian government appointed her as an honorary consul general of Romania to the United States to deal with bilateral relations between the two nations. In addition, both Comaneci is involved with the Special Olympics. Even though Comaneci won a total of nine Olympic medals, five of them gold, she will always be remembered at the first gymnast to score a Perfect 10, and leave her indelible mark on the history of the Olympics.