Article by Andrei Crăiţoiu, Maria Olteanu – Published Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 11:49 / Updated Wednesday, April 22, 2026 11:49
Invited to the set of Gazeta Sporturilor, on the show “Prietenii lui Ovidiu”, Ion Țiriac gave a shot at the mayor of Bucharest, Ciprian Ciucu, who is going to prepare a 300-kilogram statue for Nadia Comăneci, in a park that will bear her name. This summer marks 50 years since Nadia scored the first perfect 10 in history.
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On July 18, 1976, in the Forum hall in Montreal, Nadia Comăneci, then 14 and a half years old, was rewarded with the first maximum mark, 10.00 at the time, in the history of the Olympic Games;
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Ion Țiriac is Ovidiu Ioanițoaia's guest on the show “Ovidiu's Friends” on Wednesday, April 22, at 4:00 p.m.
Two months before the day when it will be 50 years since the moment that put Romania on the highest level of sport, the final preparations are being made to mark the day that will remain in history.
While Ion Țiriac revealed that he will give Nadia an exorbitant gifta gymnasium where 1,000 children aged 3-12 will be able to train, and a 150-kilogram statue, for which he went especially to China, Bucharest City Hall is preparing another, much larger, 300-kilogram bronze statue, which will be placed in a park that Ciprian Ciucu will name after Nadia.
Ion Țiriac: “A four and a half meter statue, three hundred kilograms of bronze”
“I don't know if I'm making a mistake and I apologize to the General City Hall, but I know that Nadia Comăneci's name will have a park. The street couldn't tell her that she was alive, but it seems to be.
Let him tell you where he is, don't tell me before I make a mistake. A very important park! There you need a four and a half meter statue, three hundred kilograms of bronze. See it from 200, 300 meters. That will be done too!
It costs a few hundred thousand in Europe, a few tens of thousands in China. It works extraordinarily cheaply and if not better”, said Ion Țiriac, about the statue that the General City Hall will make for Nadia, on the show “Prietenii lui Ovidiu”, moderated by the director of Gazeta Sporturilor, Ovidiu Ioanițoaia.
From the latest information, the Izvor park in the capital would become the Nadia Comăneci park.
Nadia Comaneci
I went to China for several reasons. One of them is the statue of Nadia. Nadia Comăneci celebrates 50 years since the first ten in history. We Romanians can be proud of a job that no one can take away from us: the first athlete who was perfect in this world is called Nadia Comăneci, Romania.
I started it six, seven months ago with a Spanish company. I have purchased many beautifully made bronzers from them. Where is the problem with Nadia's statue? That her first ten was at parallels. When she comes out of the parallel bars, towering, it's the coolest sports photo in the world. How do you connect Nadia to the parallels? In a one to one statue. A 150 kilo statue?! The Spaniards found the method.
But being in China I got cold feet when I saw what they were doing. I had them do it for me more than one to one, but half as big
– Ion Țiriac, about the statue he is preparing for Nadia Comăneci
