Sport & People: The 1st Perfect TEN -- Nadia Comăneci

Nadia Elena Comăneci
Image from librarising

Every year, when the Women Artistic Gymnastics Individual All-Around is on, I will miss one girl, I'm a big fan of this girl -- the perfect gymnast not only in my opinions, but also in many others' around the globe. If you don't know her, you don't really know gymnastics,

Image from RadioTimes

"Nadia Elena Comăneci (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈnadi.a koməˈnet͡ʃʲ]; born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian gymnast, winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the first female gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She is also the winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She is one of the best-known gymnasts in the world. In 2000 Comăneci was named as one of the athletes of the century by the Laureus World Sports Academy." -- Wikipedia

Exactly how good she was?

Absolutely breathtaking, no, suffocating performance!!! Perfect Ten well-deserved!!

The scoreboards were not even equipped to display
scores of 10.0 - so Nadia's perfect marks were
recorded on the boards as 1.00 instead.

Image and captions from nadiagymnastics.ie

From Wikipedia,

"Comăneci was known for her clean technique, innovative and difficult original skills, and her stoic, cool demeanor in competition.

Comăneci on uneven bars
Image from qbyq

On the uneven bars, Comăneci performed her own release move, a kip to immediate straddled front salto. The skill is named after her in the women's Code of Points, where it is currently rated an "E" (i.e. high-difficulty) element. Also named after her is the "Comăneci dismount," which is an underswing half turn into a back salto.

Comăneci -- the first ever aerial walkover
Image from Photobucket

Comăneci --aerial walkover
Image from tumblr

On the balance beam, Comăneci was the first gymnast to successfully perform an aerial walkover and an aerial cartwheel-back handspring flight series. She is also credited as being the first gymnast to perform a double-twist dismount.

Image from EMF

Comăneci's skills on the floor exercise included a tucked double back salto and a double twist.


In the early part of her career, Comăneci's competitive vault was a piked Tsukahara (a half-turn pre-flight followed by a piked back salto). Later she vaulted a tucked Cuervo (handspring half turn into tucked back salto).

Image from TIME

Image from Newsweek

Comăneci received the Olympic Order, the highest award given by the International Olympic Committee, in 1984 and 2004. She is the only person to have received this honour twice, and was also the youngest recipient. She has also been inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame."


In fact, she went on to record 10.0 for not just one, but for another 6 more times!!!

Nadia Comăneci @ London Olympics 2012 

In the future, there could be someone as great as Comăneci, but her name will never be forgotten.

Video from BBC News

For the official Nadia Comăneci website, visit:
http://www.bartandnadia.com/

For many more stunning images of Nadia Comăneci, visit:
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/nadia-comaneci?before=1343417688

Image from tumblr

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Well, there are indeed a lot of technical terms here which I am not capable of explaining, but I guess you can rewatch that video a few times and you will be sure to understand the meanings.

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Congratulations to USA gymnast Gabrielle Douglas for winning the Women artistic gymnastics Individual All-Around Gold medal! It was a tough fight, considering that Russia's Victoria Komova was so good in the last Floor Exercise event. I actually thought she would overtake Douglas.



Vocabulary:
gymnast -- (n) [C] a person who is skilled in gymnastics, often someone who competes in gymnastic competitions
breathtaking -- (adj) extremely exciting, beautiful or surprising
suffocating -- (adj) informal Something that is suffocating makes you feel uncomfortably hot or unable to breathe
demeanor -- (n)  [U] formal a way of looking and behaving
straddle -- (vb)[T] to sit or stand with your legs on either side of something
salto -- (n)[U] a Latin word for "to leap/jump", and in gymnastics refers to a somersault
trample -- (vb)  [I or T usually + prep] to step heavily on something or someone, causing damage or injury


Resources:
Nadia Comăneci @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Com%C4%83neci

First perfect ten - Nadia Comaneci - Montreal 1976 Olympic Games @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi_5xbd5xdE

Olympic torch: Fabrice Muamba jogs with torch @ BBC news
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18923697


Official Nadia Comăneci website
http://www.bartandnadia.com/


Nadia Comăneci  @ Tumblr
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/nadia-comaneci?before=1343417688

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/gymnast?q=gymnast+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/breathtaking?q=breathtaking
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/suffocating_1?q=suffocating+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/demeanour?q=demeanor+#demeanour__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/straddle?q=straddled#straddle__3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salto