Watch: This routine by gymnast Nadia Comăneci’s gave her the Olympics’ first-ever perfect ten score
On July 18, 1976, Nadia Comăneci earned the first-ever perfect ten score at a gymnastics event – at the Montreal Summer Olympics.
Forty-three years ago, on July 18, 1976, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci achieved the unthinkable at the Summer Olympics in Canada’s Montreal. Then aged 14, Comăneci became the first-ever woman to score a perfect ten for her routine on the uneven bars.
Even the scoreboard of the competition was not programmed to display this and hence Comăneci’s score read “1.00” instead of “10”.
Overall, Comăneci received seven perfect tens and three gold medals at the Montreal Olympics 1976. She holds the world record for being the youngest Olympic gymnastics all-around champion ever. This record cannot be broken since the age limit to participate in senior-level events at the Olympics has been revised to 16 from 14 in Comăneci’s time.