Comaneci, Nadia

1961 – She was born on the 12th day of November this year in One_ti, Romania.

1968 - Comaneci began gymnastics at the age of 6, after coach Béla Károlyi spotted her and a friend turning cartwheels in a schoolyard. She was one of the first students at the gymnastics school established in Onesti by Béla and his wife, Marta, who would later defect to the United States and become coaches of many prominent American gymnasts.

1975 - Comaneci's first major international success came, when she nearly swept the 1975 European Championships in Skien, Norway, winning the all-around and gold medals on every event but the floor exercise, in which she placed second.

1976 – She became one of the stars of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. During the team portion of the competition, her routine on the uneven bars was scored at a 10.0. It was the first time in Olympic gymnastics history that the score, which signified a perfect routine without any deductions, had ever been awarded.

1977 – She successfully defended her European all-around title in this year, but when questions about the scoring were raised, Ceau_escu ordered the Romanian gymnasts to return home. The team followed orders and controversially walked out of the competition during the event finals.

1979 – A newly slim and motivated Comaneci won her third consecutive European all-around title, becoming the first gymnast, male, or female, to achieve the feat. At the World Championships, she led the field after the compulsory competition. She was hospitalized prior to the optional portion of the team competition for blood poisoning caused by a cut in her wrist from her metal grip buckle.

1981 - Comaneci retired from competition in 1981. Her official retirement ceremony took place in Bucharest in this year. The IOC Chairman attended it.

1984 - Comaneci received the Olympic Order, the highest award given by the International Olympic Committee, in 1984 and 2004.

1994 – She became engaged to US gymnast Bart Conner, whom she had met for the first time in 1976 at the American Cup.

1996 - Together with Conner, she returned to Romania for the first time since her defection (and since the fall of Communism and of Ceausescu), and the couple were married in Bucharest on April 27, 1996.

2001 - Comaneci became a naturalized citizen of the United States. She has also retained her Romanian passport, making her a dual citizen.

2005 – She and Conner have provided television commentary for many gymnastics meet, most recently in this year’s World Championships in Melbourne.

2006 - Comaneci and Conner welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Dylan Paul Conner, on June 3 of this year in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The baby was three weeks early, but was able to go home from the hospital a few days after delivery.