1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,080 Speaker 1: show that proves it's never too late or too early 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: to make history. I'm Gabe Lucier, and today we're gearing 5 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: up for this year's Summer Games by looking back at 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: the flawless performance a fourteen year old Olympic gymnast Nadia Komenetch. 7 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: The day was July eighteenth, nineteen seventy six. Romanian athlete 8 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: Nadia Komenech became the first female gymnast in Olympic history 9 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: to score a ten for her performance. She earned the 10 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: perfect score while competing on the uneven bars at the 11 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, and if that weren't impressive enough, 12 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: she then went on to record six more perfect tens 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: that year, the most ever awarded to a single athlete 14 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: at the same Olympic Games. At the time and in 15 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: the year since, many outlets around the world reported that 16 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: Nadia had scored the first ten ever in Olympic history, 17 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: but that's not actually the case. While she was the 18 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: first female gymnast to nab a perfect score and the 19 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: first athlete to score a ten with an uneven bar's routine. 20 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: She wasn't the first overall. That honor belongs to Albert 21 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: Segeine of France, who at the nineteen twenty four Games 22 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: in Paris, scored a ten on the side horse vault, 23 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: an event that was permanently dropped after that single year. 24 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,960 Speaker 1: Women's gymnastics didn't become an official Olympic sport until nineteen 25 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: twenty eight, when the first female Olympic gymnasts competed at 26 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: the Summer Games in Amsterdam. Since then, it's become one 27 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: of the most popular and fiercely competitive sports in the 28 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: entire program. That was already the case in November of 29 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one, when Nadia Elena Komenech was born in 30 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: the small town of Onnesty, Romania. She started practicing gymnastics 31 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: when she was five years old and displayed a natural 32 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: skill for turning cartwheels. One year later, renowned gymnastics coach 33 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: Bella Coroli saw Nadia practicing in the school yard and 34 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: offered to train her for competitions. Under his instruction, Nadia 35 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: went on to win title after title, including the Romanian 36 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: National Junior Championships, the European Championships, and the American Cup 37 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: all by the time she was thirteen years old. Those 38 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: hard won victories helped prepare Nadia for the most daunting 39 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: challenge of her young career, representing her nation at the 40 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy six Summer Olympics. She was just fourteen years 41 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: old when she went to Montreal, which made the performance 42 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: she delivered all the more astonishing. Nadia took to the 43 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: floor on July eighteenth, nineteen seventy six, during the women's 44 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: artistic gymnastics competition. Artistic gymnastics consists of a number of 45 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: individual competitions and a team competition involving different apparatus that 46 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: require different skills. Women compete across the vault, the uneven bars, 47 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: the balance beam, and floor exercise, and the gymnasts to 48 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: compete in all of these events are known as all 49 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: around athletes. Nadia was an all around gymnast, and she 50 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: earned her first perfect score during her uneven bars routine. 51 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: You've probably seen that apparatus before. It's essentially a pair 52 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: of parallel wooden bars fixed at different heights from the 53 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: floor and supported by a steel frame. Moves on the 54 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: bars include circles, turns, transitions, and releases, and each routine 55 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: must include at least one transition from the high bar 56 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: to the low bar, one move releasing and catching the 57 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: same bar, one three hundred and sixty degree turn, and 58 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: two grips or hand positions. Like all events in gymnastic competition, 59 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: a strong showing on the uneven bars requires tremendous strength, agility, coordination, 60 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: and precision. You have to demonstrate an awful lot of 61 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: skills in just a thirty second routine, and according to 62 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: the judges, Nadia nail them all. Her flawless performance was 63 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: so unexpected that the scoreboard wasn't even capable of displaying it. 64 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: The manufacturer had been under the impression that a ten 65 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: point double zero score wasn't possible, so the board was 66 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: only designed to display three digits like nine point five 67 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: to two, for example. It couldn't display Nadia's true four 68 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: digit score, so it just read one point zero zero instead. 69 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: It was probably jarring for the athlete to see what 70 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: appeared to be a low score, but I bet she 71 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,479 Speaker 1: got used to the site by the end of the games. 72 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: That's because Nadias scored six more perfect tens at Montreal, 73 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 1: three more on the uneven bars and another three on 74 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 1: the balance beam. She took home three gold medals, two 75 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,279 Speaker 1: one for the uneven bars, another for the balance beam, 76 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 1: and a third for the individual all around. She also 77 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: won a bronze medal for the floor exercise and a 78 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: silver as part of the team all around. These wins 79 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: made her the youngest ever Olympic Gymnastics all around champion, 80 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,919 Speaker 1: and since the age eligibility requirement has since been raised 81 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: to at least sixteen, it's a record that will never 82 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: be broken. Nadia's streak of perfect tens would also be 83 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: hard to replicate today. That's because gymnastic routines at the 84 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: Olympics are no longer evaluated with a maximum of ten points. 85 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: Beginning in two thirds er thousand and five, the mode of 86 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: scoring changed to a two part system, a D score 87 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 1: based on the difficulty and content of the exercise, and 88 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: an E score grading D execution. These two numbers are 89 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: then combined to get a final score, which is generally 90 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: greater than ten. So while it's still theoretically possible to 91 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: score a perfect ten for execution at the time of recording, 92 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:29,799 Speaker 1: that's yet to happen and maybe it never will. As 93 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: for Nadia herself, she didn't let her perfect performance go 94 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: to her head. She went right back to training harder 95 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: than ever, and in nineteen eighty she secured another two 96 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: gold medals for herself at the Olympics in Moscow, one 97 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: for the balance beam and another for floor exercise. The 98 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: following year was a bit of an outlier for Nadia. First, 99 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: she announced her retirement from competitive gymnastics at the top 100 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: of her game, and then, while on tour in the 101 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: United States, her longtime coaches Bella and Marta Caroli defected 102 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 1: from communist Romania. Romania's government cracked down hard on the 103 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: gymnast from then on, severely restricting her travel to Western 104 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:17,559 Speaker 1: countries and placing her under almost constant supervision. After eight 105 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: years of this harsh treatment, Nadia was able to escape 106 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: her government minders and illegally crossed the border into Hungary. 107 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: From there, she slowly made her way to the United States, 108 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: where she was able to build a new life for 109 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: herself as a gymnastics coach, author, and model. She also 110 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: met and eventually married fellow gymnast Bart Connor, and together 111 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: they opened a successful gymnastics studio for teenagers, which they 112 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: still operate to this day. I'm Gay bluesiay, and hopefully 113 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 114 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with 115 00:07:57,200 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and 116 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have any 117 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my way 118 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks 119 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: to Casby Bias for producing the show, and thanks to 120 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 121 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: for another day in History class.