Nadia Comaneci: “Simone Biles it the gymnast, slash athlete of this generation”

Nadia Comaneci: “Simone Biles it the gymnast, slash athlete of this generation”

Legendary Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci recently lauded Simone Biles for her impact on today’s generation. The 62-year-old described her as the “gymnast, slash athlete” of today’s times.Comaneci shared that she was impressed by Biles’ real and unstoppable nature. In her opinion, it motivated young girls to take an interest in sports.Five-time Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci was the star gymnast of her era. Her performances in the mid-1970s were responsible for bringing unimaginable global popularity to gymnastics.Comaneci was just 14 when she became the first gymnast ever to achieve perfect 10 scores at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.She continued her streak of perfect 10s in six more events in the same Olympics that earned her three gold medals. Moreover, in the following championship in Moscow in 1980, the gymnast bagged two more perfect 10s to win two more gold medals.

Recently, the retired gymnast reflected on her glorious journey, when she shared her take on seven-time Olympic medalist, Simone Biles. Comaneci told Olympics.com in an interview:
“She’s the gymnast, slash athlete, of this generation.”
The nine-time Olympic medalist was highly impressed with Biles’ powerful personality. She said,
“She’s the one to show the power of women and the power of, ‘This is me. This is who I am and nobody’s going to stop me. I want to open doors, I want to show what I can do,’’ Comaneci says.
Simone Biles has always been unapologetic about her shortcomings and public criticism of her appearance. Comaneci commended her attitude and said,
“I think it’s great for the sport because she motivated and encourages little girls to play sports.”