First Perfect 10

First Perfect 10: Nadia Comaneci at the 1976 Olympics

Nadia Comaneci, the gymnast who changed the sport in 1976.

On July 18, 1976, at the Montreal Olympics, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci became the first gymnast in Olympic history to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0. She was just 14 years old, and she earned it on the uneven bars.

The moment was so unexpected that the scoreboard couldn't show it. It had never been built to display a 10.0, so it flashed "1.00" instead, and the crowd had to wait for the announcement to understand what they had just seen.

Nadia didn't stop there. She went on to score seven perfect 10s across the Montreal Games and won three gold medals (individual all-around, uneven bars and balance beam), along with a team silver and a floor exercise bronze. Her performances reshaped how gymnastics was judged and inspired a generation of athletes.

Nearly fifty years later, "the first perfect 10" is still one of the most famous moments in Olympic history.

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