The fans had become used to looking toward the scoreboard whenever a gymnast stuck a landing. You could tell they were thinking, 'Was that good enough? Would the numbers read 10.00?' The athlete was looking, too.
— Nadia Comaneci
When you go out of your country and meet people, you get a wider perspective.
Once you become an Olympic champion, you are expected to win all the time.
Ceausescu thought I had only a few medals, but I have a room full of them in Bucharest, between 150-200 in all. They needed suitcases to haul them out.
I tell people, 'Have you ever been to Oklahoma? There are a lot of nice people there that do wonderful things.'
Life is not easy for anyone. You have to have ups and downs. You can make mistakes. You learn and try not to make them again. That's pretty much my principle.
I think gymnastics was associated with the 10. I thought that belonged to the sport, and somehow we gave it way.
I couldn't do everything in the first or second day; it took me years to be able to get to the achievement that I've had. I wasn't perfect from the beginning.
I thought celebrity meant Hollywood, that's it. I began to see that does include Olympians. People have so much respect for Olympians.
I cannot change anything, so I don't want to think about what I would have done.
I always say I don't want to change anything in my life.
I would love to be in 'Dancing With the Stars.'
Maybe that's why I like gymnastics - because I like to fly.
I never personally complained; everybody else complained for me.
I'm not a dreamer for, you know, 'I want to go to the moon someday.' I accomplished something when I was young, which was much more than I expected to. My results were much bigger than I ever dreamed about it.
My message to the ladies would be, you can do all of the things, but not all of them at the same time.
When you're growing up, you realize you've got a lot of heavy things on your shoulders.
I did not even look at the scoreboard when my routine was done in 1976.
I am a relaxed person. I am very happy.
When I went into the Montreal Games, nobody expected much out of me.
I used to tell people if they looked at a map, it was right in the middle of the United States. But now everybody knows Oklahoma because of the Thunder and their success. I don't know if I'll get 'Why?' anymore.
I never thought I would be standing here, married to an All-American guy, living in Oklahoma. What a country.
Two gold medals and two silver, I don't think is that bad... I think I still did a pretty good job.
At the end of the day, I just want to see good gymnastics!
If I was a boy, nobody would care that I worked out six, seven hours a day when I was 9 years old, no? Why were people always saying 'poor little girl?' I liked to work out and always did more than I was asked to.
I didn't realize that winning the Olympics at age 14 automatically put me in the category of being a celebrity.
I don't think many people consider in their heart that they have two places that are home.
If I was 14 or 15 again, I would do the same thing. I've done everything. I think I've accomplished more than I had in mind.
That's what everybody remembers. They don't remember how many medals I won in my career. They remember the 10s.
I basically have my life today as a result of what I did as a child. What did I miss out on? Yeah, I missed not hanging out at shopping malls, I guess, but that is not a big deal because you don't get a medal for that.
People assume a lot of things about gymnasts - that the girls work too hard, it's way too much for them, they are too young to work so hard.
I had a lot of energy, and my mom decided to look for a place where I can spend the energy, because I was jumping on the couch and furniture, and I was jumping on the top of the things in the house.
Now, I have a kid, I have businesses to take care of, I have to travel. I have to sit down... and find a little time for me.
In the '80 Olympics... people expected me to win. I was good enough to win, and I made a mistake and ended up second, which is pretty good, too.
Near the end of my career, I saw things that didn't make too much sense to me when I was a kid.
What can you know about life at 14? I have learned a lot since, but you learn slowly. You get hit by many things and try to make sense of it.
I'm the kind of person, I leave a little space for better.
Nellie Kim, an Olympic champion from the former Soviet Union, got a 10 right after me in '76, but nobody talks about that.
I come from a wonderful country with wonderful people.
I was turning actually 15 at the Olympics in '76... I don't think that one year makes a huge difference.
Enjoy the journey and try to get better every day. And don't lose the passion and the love for what you do.
My mother never watched me train in Romania. She wasn't allowed, it just wasn't done back then. My training was paid for by the government. My parents were not at the Olympics with me, either. I never expected them to be.
It feels good when you come to a place like Oklahoma to charge up the batteries. I need that.
I'm very good friends with my former coaches. We speak on the phone a lot.
I have a classic taste with a twist, because classic never goes away.
I live in the moment. I can turn the page and move on.
When I look back, I am happy that my mum took me to the gymnastics club. I didn't join gymnastics to become a famous athlete or celebrity; it just happened - I did more than I expected, of course.
I wanted to have a free life.
I work out every day, but my idea is to make something short. I work out a maximum half hour. I only do like 20 minutes of cardio, and I do some stretching and some light weights, and I'm out of there.
You can't jump from little things to big things. It just takes time and patience.
