Nadia Comăneci

Born in Onești, Romania on November 12, 1961, Nadia Elena Comăneci began gymnastics training at age six under legendary coaches Béla and Márta Károlyi. On July 18, 1976, at the Montreal Olympic Games, the 14-year-old Romanian girl stepped onto the uneven bars and delivered an immaculate routine of such precision, grace, and athletic mastery that the Swiss Timing scoreboard—built only to display scores up to 9.95—famously flashed "1.00" because Olympic officials had considered a perfect 10 impossible. Comăneci went on to record seven perfect 10.0 scores during the Montreal Games, winning individual gold in the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam, as well as team silver and floor bronze. Four years later at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Comăneci won two additional gold medals (balance beam and floor exercise) and two silver medals, bringing her career Olympic medal total to nine (five gold, three silver, one bronze). She remains the youngest Olympic all-around champion in history. In 1989, shortly before the Romanian Revolution, Comăneci made a daring defection to the United States, where she became a global ambassador for gymnastics, Special Olympics vice-chair, and philanthropist. Honored by the Laureus World Sports Academy as one of the century's greatest athletes, Nadia Comăneci defined human perfection in sport.