Before There Was Simone Biles, There Was Nadia Com?neci: Watch the Viral Video of The First Ever Perfect 10 in Gymnastics History
In honor of Simone Biles making history by becoming the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast of all time, online community Reddit is taking a walk down memory lane. A viral thread was created Thursday looking back at the moment Nadia Com?neci earned the first-ever perfect score of 10 at an Olympic games. The original post contained the video of the 14-year-old Romanian gymnast at the Montreal Games in 1976, where she made her Olympic debut and was awarded a 10.0. for her performance on the uneven bars.
Com?neci went on to receive seven perfect scores in total and won the gold medals for the balance beam and the all-around individual competition. She won a silver medal as a member of her team and a bronze medal for the floor exercises.
The internet reacts to viral video of Nadia Com?neci earning the first-ever Olympic 10
“That dismount is absolutely insane,” one user wrote of the way Com?neci seemingly floated off the bar and landed without missing a step.
“Incredible,” commented another. “I played it back about ten times and I still can’t wrap my head around it. Amazing.”
Some users even pointed out the fact that the scoreboards at the time displayed “1.00," because they were only programmed to display three digits. This was because there was really no reason to believe they would need four before Com?neci blew the judges and audiences around the world away.
Others, though, called attention to the fact that the moves Com?neci performed at the time seemed borderline painful and dangerous, such as her hips constantly making contact with the bars and the lack of a safety coach nearby.
“The bars are a completely different apparatus nowadays,” one person wrote. “They're much wider apart and no one (in elite gymnastics) is standing or sitting on the bar anymore. And they're far too wide apart to hit your hips on the lower bar anymore.”
Com?neci also worked with an infamously strict controversial coach, Bela Karolyi, many viewers noted, as well as the fact that she was subjected to pressure and surveillance by Romanian authorities following her rise to fame. She was eventually able to defect from Romania in 1989 when she made her way to the United States.
And, of course, many viewers marveled at the way things have evolved and time has passed since the day Com?neci achieved this feat.
“I watched this as a kid and was just blown away” one comment reads. “Now I’m watching Simone Biles do things that just blow my mind—and it’s wild to see Nadia Com?neci in her 60s, watching from the stands. Who will Simone Biles be watching when she’s in her 60s?”
What has Nadia Com?neci said about her career?
“I didn’t go to the games to make history, I just went to compete,” she said in one interview. “I just went and competed. I did what I’ve done in the gym for many, many, many hours.”
Com?neci added that, despite being a young teenager, she understood the gravity of the fact that she had made it to the Olympics. The most prominent thing running through her mind as she made a name for herself in1976 was her family and her home, she said.
“I wondered if my mom and dad were watching because in Romania it was 2 a.m.,” she recalled. “I found out that they did watch.”
In December of 2003, Com?neci wrote a book called Letters to a Young Gymnast, detailing her story.
“Romanians have a saying, 'Not every dog has a bagel on its tail,’” she writes in the autobiography. “It means that not all streets are paved with gold. When I began my career, I just wanted to do cartwheels.”
The iconic gymnast has been in the stands supporting the gymnasts throughout the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and has been documenting her experience on her Instagram.
Keep reading for more Olympics content!
What Happened to Coco Gauff? Inside Her Olympic Argument and Fan Reactions
Who Is Stephen Nedoroscik? All About the Gymnast and His Pommel Horse Routine
Olympic Sportscaster Bob Ballard Loses Job After Making Sexist Comment
