Nadia Comăneci (64 years old) and Garry Kasparov (63 years old), world sports legends, exchanged pleasantries from a distance.
Garry Kasparov is present in Bucharest for the Super Chess Classic, a competition scheduled for May 14-23, 2026.
The chess grandmaster watched a video message from Nadia Comăneci, then recalled how the Soviets reacted to the first perfect 10 in Olympic history.
Garry Kasparov and the grade of 10 received by Nadia Comăneci: “The moment was not celebrated in the USSR”
- 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;
“I remember. The moment was not celebrated in the USSR, it was a shocking experience for the people living there. The sport was totally dominated by the Soviets.
I remember very well. I was very young, I had television. A perfect 10 is a perfect 10! I'm glad I could listen to his message, a beautiful memory”, he said Garry Kasparov, world chess leader for 255 months.
On July 18, 1976, in Montreal, Nadia achieved the first perfect mark in the Olympic history of artistic gymnastics, floating unreal and gracefully on uneven parallel bars.
The video message sent by Nadia Comăneci during the Super Chess Classic event
The “Montreal Goddess” could not reach Bucharest during this period, but she sent a recording in which she talks about the importance of chess among children.
Yes, I played a little chess when I was little. But I can't say I was good. I liked that you had to think ahead, be patient and learn to control your emotions. I think chess teaches you discipline, just like in sports.
Even though I was closer to the gym than the chessboard, I think chess is great for kids. It makes them understand that every decision has a consequence. Garry Kasparov is a name the whole world knows. To me, he represents excellence, intelligence and the mentality of a champion. They have always appreciated people who manage to change the history of the sport or the field in which they are active. He is one of those people.
When I got my first perfect 10 I was very young. I don't think we realized the magnitude of the moment. I felt joy, excitement and satisfaction that the work was appreciated. Only later did I understand that I had entered sports history.
For children who want to play sports, I think the most important thing is to do what they love. To find their passion, to be patient and not to give up when it's harder. To become a great champion, talent helps, but it is not enough
– Nadia Comaneci
The first 10 in the history of the Olympic Games
On July 18, 1976, in the Forum hall in Montreal, Nadia Comăneci received a score of 1.00 for the parallel exercise because no one believed that such a score was possible in an Olympic competition.
It was the first score of 10 in a series of seven, the Romanian collecting five medals at the 1976 Olympics.
“I don't think we can achieve perfection, but we can try to get closer to it. When something was said to be perfect, in a longer or shorter time, an even better thing was achieved, we can't say that it's more than perfect, right? I knew I could do that exercise much better,” said the great gymnast in an interview with Gazeta Sporturilor.
