Top 90 Nadia Comaneci Quotes

When you’re growing up, you realize you’ve got a lot of heavy things on your shoulders.

Of course I used to smile and laugh in 1976, but not when I was competing. Please show me somebody who laughs when they are concentrating; I always smiled.

I tell people, ‘Have you ever been to Oklahoma? There are a lot of nice people there that do wonderful things.’

I like seeing advanced acrobatics, but I also like to see more than tumbling. It’s important to combine the artistry of gymnastics with the tough skills. It’s called artistic gymnastics. We should stand by the name.

At 14, you think you compete, you retire and you get a job. I didn’t think gymnastics was a career that was going to change my life.

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.

I believe that you should gravitate to people who are doing productive and positive things with their lives.

I would love to be in ‘Dancing With the Stars.’

Uchimura is the greatest of all time.

What makes me happy is the appreciation of people around me.

The – I don’t want to say older, but the more experienced I get, I treasure and I honor what I’ve done much more.

It was my mother who got me involved in gymnastics, sending me to classes when I was six just to stop me doing back flips on the couch and destroying the furniture.

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 wanted to have a free life.

I didn’t realize that winning the Olympics at age 14 automatically put me in the category of being a celebrity.

Of course, most people remember that I received the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics competition.

Every generation comes with a unique athlete, I don’t think anybody wants to be the next Nadia; they want to be themselves.

I cannot change anything, so I don’t want to think about what I would have done.

Gymnastics was my way to travelling the world.

I did not even look at the scoreboard when my routine was done in 1976.

I like risky stuff.

I don’t think many people consider in their heart that they have two places that are home.

My parents were very loving, but disciplinarians.

When you go out of your country and meet people, you get a wider perspective.

I wasn’t allowed to leave Romania. That made me mad. You just want your freedom. You want your space. You want opportunity.

I was turning actually 15 at the Olympics in ’76… I don’t think that one year makes a huge difference.

People always accused me of not smiling like my rival Olga Korbut, but that was just my personality. When you’re balancing on a nine-inch beam, you have to concentrate. But if you look back at the footage, I was always smiling and waving at the crowd after my performances.

I didn’t know I wanted to be a gymnast; I was just introduced to the gym. I loved the place because it looked like a hi-tech playground with mats and a lot of things I can hang from.

I think gymnastics was associated with the 10. I thought that belonged to the sport, and somehow we gave it way.

I remember before the Olympics, I was asked, ‘What do you think you’re going to do in the Olympics?’ and I said, ‘I’m hoping I’m going to win a medal, and, if possible, it’s going to be a gold one.’

Romania doesn’t have a big tradition of gymnastics as a fun activity. We were a little behind in this aspect.

In Montreal, I kept thinking, ‘Pay attention: this is the Olympics! It only happens once every four years!’

Hard work has made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win.

I like to tell young people to work hard for your goals and live in the moment.

To me, family is what is important. If you don’t have it, nothing is going to matter.

Near the end of my career, I saw things that didn’t make too much sense to me when I was a kid.

Maybe that’s why I like gymnastics – because I like to fly.

People think you have pressure when you are young. It’s the other way round, actually.

I think that when you are on a four-inch balance beam, you don’t care about laughing or smiling or waving to the crowd because you’re going to be down in a second.

You should also appreciate the goodness around you, and surround yourself with positive people.

I always say, ‘When the Olympics are happening, you shouldn’t be in any other place in the planet – you should be here.’

I thought I was going to retire at 20, and I was going to be a surgeon.

I come from a communist country. We learned nothing of lawyers, nothing about rights.

I was a perfectionist in gymnastics.

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.

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.

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.

I am not a perfect 10 anymore. I can only try my best.

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.

Gymnastics is so huge in the Olympics. There are a lot of fans who want to see more.

I’m very good friends with my former coaches. We speak on the phone a lot.

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.

We used to exchange leotards with gymnasts from other countries. I don’t remember who I got my most prized leotard from, but it was one with a lot of stars on it.

It was good to be a kid because I did not realise all the things that came with the success. Going to the Games, I was asked what I expected to do.

At the end of the day, I just want to see good gymnastics!

Of course, I grew up in Communist Romania, but I am happy to say that now our country is democratic, and prospering, since the revolution in 1989.

Everything I do today is because of what I did when I was 14.

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.

Yes, gymnasts aim for perfection, but I never thought about the score. If that’s what’s in your mind, it will probably mess you up.

People ask me what the definition of perfection, I said it’s none: there is no definition of perfection.

I know my life story sounds too extraordinary to be true.

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 remember everything from 1976. I remember I was 14, and I remember my routines.

We developed a system in Romania that was very successfully continued for a number of years, but I don’t know if it was because of some conflict in the organisation or whether there was government interference… but somehow, they have forgotten the importance of raising gymnasts to be ready for every Olympics.

I have had a few turning points, the first day I entered a gymnastics school at age 6.

I never thought I would be standing here, married to an All-American guy, living in Oklahoma. What a country.

I like America. I don’t want to hurt America.

I like Oklahoma. It’s a quiet place. You can work, and nobody disturbs you.

Nellie Kim, an Olympic champion from the former Soviet Union, got a 10 right after me in ’76, but nobody talks about that.

You can’t jump from little things to big things. It just takes time and patience.

As an Olympic champion gymnast, I have always stayed involved in my sport.

It feels good when you come to a place like Oklahoma to charge up the batteries. I need that.

I thought celebrity meant Hollywood, that’s it. I began to see that does include Olympians. People have so much respect for Olympians.

I hoped to win a medal and hoped it would be gold. I knew I was good but didn’t know I would be the one to score something that had never been done before.

It’s very hard to get to the top. It’s hardest to stay at the top.

I come from a wonderful country with wonderful people.

I have a classic taste with a twist, because classic never goes away.