What was Nadia's nickname. “When Bella Karoly called me that, I knew that training would be easier”
Returning to Onești, in her hometown, 50 years after she obtained the first grade of 10 in the women's Olympic gymnastics competition, Nadia Comâneci spoke about the time she trained there. The champion also referred to the nickname she received in the 70s.
Nadia Comăneci, with her colleagues from 1976, at the Champions Gala (PHOTO: Marian Burlacu)
With a smile on her face, Nadia revealed what she was called: “Gregory. Bella knew why. When it was a good day and it said >, I knew it would be a less tough workout“.
Teodora Ungureanu had the nickname “Așchiuță”
Teammate with Nadia in the 70s, participant in the Olympic Games in Montreal, Teodora Ungureanu told that she was called “Așchiuță” during that time. “The nickname was given to me when I was in Reșita. Because I was small, weak. Like a chip. Then the coaches or one of the boys, because we trained in the same gym as the gymnasts, gave me the nickname Așchiuță and it stayed like that until I arrived in Onești“. It should also be remembered that in the 60s, a wooden doll named “Așchiuță” was very popular among children in Romania.
Nadia, with the Romanian team, at the 1976 Montreal Olympics (PHOTO: Profimedia)
After listening to her former colleague, Nadia told her: “And you had one more.” To which Teodora continued: “Yes, at home everyone called me Dorina. Is that why you said? When I was born, my mother wanted to call me Dorina. My father did not agree. She said she would call me Teodora because my father's name was Tudor. My mother agreed, but said that Dorina would still tell me“.
Nadia Comăneci had a meeting of the soul in Onești (PHOTO: Marian Burlacu)
Nadia received seven 10.00 marks at the 1976 Montreal Olympics
At the Summer Olympics in Montreal in 1976, Nadia was scored 7 times with the highest score, 10.00. Which represented a first for the girls' gymnastics competition. On July 18, 1976, Nadia Comăneci received the first 10.00 on unequal parallels. And the score 1.00 appeared on the scoreboard… And this is because Omega SA, the official manufacturer of the scoreboard at that edition of the Summer Olympics, took for granted the idea that no one can get the maximum score in gymnastics.
At that edition of the Olympic Games, Nadia Comăneci had colleagues Gabriela Trușcă, Georgeta Gabor, Anca Grigoraș, Mariana Constantin and Teodora Ungureanu. In the team competition, Romania won the silver medal, being overtaken by the USSR, which had dominated the female gymnastics competitions until then. All the components of the team from that time gathered in Onești, on May 31, to celebrate the successes of 50 years ago.
Nadia Comăneci and the perfect parallel exercise from the 1976 Montreal Olympics (PHOTO: Profimedia)
In 1976, in addition to the “silver” in the team competition, Nadia won 3 more gold medals (uneven parallel bars, beam and individual compound) and one bronze (floor). Teodora Ungureanu was also on the list of medal winners in gymnastics, who obtained a silver medal in the uneven parallel bars and a bronze medal in the beam. In men's category, Dan Grecu took 3rd place in rings.
