1976 Montreal Olympics Nadia Comaneci 8x10 Photo #37

Nadia Comaneci at the Montreal Olympics

At the age of 14, Comaneci became one of the stars of the 1976 Summer Olympics 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 modern Olympic gymnastics history that the score had ever been awarded. The scoreboards were not even equipped to display scores of 10.0—so Nadia's perfect marks were reported on the boards as 1.00 instead. Over the course of the Olympics, Comaneci would earn six additional 10s, en route to capturing the all-around, beam and bars titles and a bronze medal on the floor exercise. The Romanian team also placed second in the team competition.

Comaneci was the first Romanian gymnast to win the all-around title at the Olympics. She also holds the record as the youngest Olympic gymnastics all-around champion ever; with the revised age-eligibility requirements in the sport (gymnasts must now turn 16 in the calendar year to compete in the Olympics; in 1976 gymnasts had to be 14 by the first day of the competition), this record is currently unable to be broken.

Comaneci's achievements at the Olympics generated a significant amount of media attention. The theme song from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless became associated with her after the television program ABC's Wide World Of Sports used it as background music for montages of her routines. The song became a top ten single in the fall of 1976, and the composer, Barry De Vorzon, renamed it to "Nadia's Theme" after her. However, Comaneci never actually performed to "Nadia's Theme." Her floor exercise music was a medley of the songs "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and "Jump in the Line" arranged for piano.

She was the 1976 BBC Sports Personality of the Year in the overseas athletes category and the Associated Press's 1976 "Female Athlete of the Year". She also retained her title as the UPI Female Athlete of the Year. Back home in Romania, Comaneci's success led her to be named a "Hero of Socialist Labor," she was the youngest Romanian to receive such recognition during the administration of Nicolae Ceauşescu.

Denis Brodeur Biography

Denis Brodeur (born October 12, 1930, in Montreal, Quebec), is acknowledged as one of hockey's finest photographers and is the father of current New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. He was the official photographer for the Montreal Canadiens for many years, and published or co-published a large number of hockey books. Although mainly known for his hockey photography, this acclaimed photographer covered many other sporting events such as the olympics, formula one racing, boxing, wrestling & other sports.

Like his son, Denis was also considered an outstanding goaltender, and helped team Canada win the bronze medal

at the 1956 Olympic Games in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy.