She Was The First Women To Get A Perfect Score At The Olympics Yet She Remains Forgotten

Going Pro

In 1969, Nadia participated in her first real competition – the Romanian National Junior Championship. She was only 7 years old at the time and was one of the youngest competitors there. Considering the strength, age, and maturity of other competitors, she fared pretty well and finished 13th.

Image by @nadiacomaneci10 / Twitter

Nevertheless, she considered this a failure and was disappointed with her performance. It motivated her to train even harder. The year after, she won her first competition easily claiming the first place with a spectacular performance. This was her first career achievement, and she was only 8 years old.