On July 18, 1976, Comăneci made history at the Montreal Olympics. During the team compulsory portion of the competition, she was awarded the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics for her routine on the uneven bars. Omega SA, the traditional Olympics scoreboard manufacturer, had been led to believe that competitors could not receive a perfect ten, and had not programmed the scoreboard to display that score. Comăneci’s perfect 10 thus appeared as “1.00”

At the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score at the Olympic Games. At the same Games, she received six more perfect score for events en route to winning three gold medals.

Comăneci was the first Romanian gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title. She also holds the record as the youngest ever Olympic gymnastics all-around champion.

The Montreal Forum hosted the gymnastics event included Nadia Comaneci’s famous perfect 10, the first in Olympic history.

Featured Image: Nadia Comăneci beside the scoreboard that recorded her perfect 10 as 1.00 / Image: Associated Press

Websites: forum-montreal.com, olympic.org, gymnastics.sport