THE PERFECT 10

BY:Maria Fernanda Velásquez

‘I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet

-Nadia Comaneci.

Artistic gymnastics was introduced at the very first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, and has been present at every edition of the Games since then. At the beginning, it comprised disciplines that are difficult to qualify as “artistic”, such as climbing and acrobatics.

In the early days of artistic gymnastics at the Games, participants often had a background in ballet, and would reach their peak in their 20s. Nadia Comaneci’s and Nellie Kim's perfect scores of 10 at the 1976 Montreal Games, at the age of 14, heralded an era of younger champions, trained specifically in gymnastics from childhood , although gymnasts must now be 16 to compete in the Olympic Games.

                                                                              

Born in 1961, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci became the first woman to score a perfect 10 in an Olympic gymnastics event at the 1976 Olympic Games, at age 14. Her performance at the 1976 Olympics redefined both her sport and audiences' expectations of female athletes. At the 1980 Olympics, Comaneci won gold medals for the balance beam and floor exercise. She retired from competition in 1984 and defected to the United States in 1989

Practicing gymnastics isn’t a sport for everyone, this sport is based on how people can manage their  fears and turn them in their favor.  Gymnastics is present in all that we do from cleaning the house to walk to your school or work, many people think this sport is too dangerous, but at the same way that’s what makes it a piece of art, not everyone can find the perfect harmony mind-body, but in the moment you have I asure you no-one can destroy you.

Sources: http://www.biography.com/people/nadia-comaneci-9254240

https://www.olympic.org/artistic-gymnastics-equipment-and-history?tab=history