50 years since Montreal Olympics: Nadia Comăneci returns to the city that changed her life
Posted July 30, 2026 9:48 am.
Last Updated July 30, 2026 5:09 pm.
Olympic gymnastics legend Nadia Comăneci is back in Montreal this week, returning to the city where she made history 50 years ago with the first perfect 10 in Olympic competition.
The nine-time Olympic medallist is taking part in several events marking the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.
Speaking Thursday in Montreal, Comăneci said returning to the city for the milestone anniversary is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“To be here to celebrate this amazing 50 years since 1976 is, I don’t know, a once-in-a-lifetime event,” she said. “That’s probably what’s good about making history at 14, you get to celebrate the half-century since.”
Comăneci, now 64, was joined by her husband and fellow Olympic gymnast Bart Conner, as well as Canadian Olympic Committee president and Montreal 1976 Olympian Tricia Smith.
On Friday, Comăneci will receive an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal before attending the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the Centre Claude-Robillard.
Her visit continues Saturday with a stop at the Montreal 1976: An Olympic Legacy exhibition at the McCord Stewart Museum before taking part in “Nadia Day” at the Olympic Park, where people sharing her first name will gather to meet the Romanian gymnastics icon ahead of the free Feu sacré celebration concert.
At just 14 years old, Comăneci captivated the world at the Montreal Games, earning the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history. The achievement was so unprecedented that the Omega scoreboard, which had not been designed to display a perfect score, flashed “1.00” instead, briefly confusing spectators. She would go on to earn six more perfect 10s and win three Olympic gold medals.
Comăneci said she didn’t immediately realize the significance of what had happened.
“It happened so fast that even I did not know that I made history because nobody told me anything,” she said.
Recalling the now-famous scoreboard moment, she said the unexpected score left her puzzled.
“The one didn’t make sense at all, so I thought there was something wrong,” Comăneci said. “I was like, ‘This is kind of a little weird because one is not a very good score.’”
Looking back five decades later, Comăneci said she is struck by the courage of her 14-year-old self.
“I can’t believe I’m 14 years old. I’m here because when I was 14 years old, I decided to do something 50 years ago,” she said. “I’m impressed, as an adult right now, about the courage that that 14-year-old had.”
