Former Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci, a five-time Olympic champion who received the first perfect 10 score in gymnastics history at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, stated that sports gave her a voice when she was only 14 years old and had not heard of gender equality, EFE reports.
„48 years ago, I had not heard of gender equality and I just went and did what I had to do. Now, I am happy because no one, no person, has achieved that 10. Sports gave me a voice when I was only 14 years old, and I am proud that that girl opened the door for other women,” said Nadia Comăneci, one of the greatest athletes of all time, who is in Madrid to attend the Laureus Awards Gala, which will take place Monday evening at the Cibeles Palace.
Nadia Comăneci, who is a member of the Laureus Academy, stated that she was very young when she won the Olympic Games, but the memories are fresh.
"It is every child's dream. Everyone wants to be unique. When I was an athlete, boys did not have as many opportunities to practice sports, let alone girls," she added.
"Gymnastics is a sport where you fall a lot, get up, and fall again. It is a fantastic lesson about what life is," Nadia added, mentioning that after the Montreal Games, she received "about 250 letters per day," to which she responded slowly. "Those were my social networks," she further specified.
62-year-old Nadia Comăneci also stated that Simone Biles, the American gymnastics star, "is a unique athlete," one of the few who can "rest for a year and then win again."