#33: Nadia Comăneci: Gymnast Goddess
What were you doing when you were 14? Probably all of us can honestly attest to being nowhere near gymnast Nadia Comăneci’s level when she was a competitor at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Comăneci shattered expectations at the age of 14 when she scored a perfect 10 for her gymnastics routine. What’s more, she went on to earn six more perfect scores during the course of the competition!
Nadia’s perfect 10 was the first time a perfect score had ever been awarded in the Olympics. The scoreboard couldn’t even display the correct numbers because everyone thought a score of 10 was impossible. She became the youngest Olympic gold medalist ever thanks to it. She was also known for her creativity on the beam. She debuted several new moves into the gymnastics lexicon, and she was the first gymnast to successfully do an aerial walkover.