This document provides biographical information about four famous Romanian athletes: Nadia Comaneci, the first female gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics and a five-time Olympic medalist; Gheorghe Hagi, considered Romania's greatest footballer who starred for Steaua Bucharest and Real Madrid; Simona Halep, currently Romania's top-ranked female tennis player and former world #1; and Ilie Năstase, one of the greatest male tennis players of the 1970s, winning numerous Grand Slam titles. It outlines their early careers, successes, accomplishments, and legacy in their respective sports.

1. LLP Comenius Multilateral Partnership 2013-2015
Material prepared by:
Gabriel Dogaru – 11th Grade Student
coordinated by:
Daniela Livadaru (Teacher of Religion)
Project Meeting in Zadar, Croatia
- the 3rd – the 8th of May 2015 -

2.  the first female to be awarded a
perfect score of 10, at age 14, in an
Olympic gymnastics event;
 one of the best-known gymnasts in
the world;
 one of the Athletes of the Century
(Laureus World Sports Academy);

3.  1961: Born in Oneşti, on the 12th
of November, Comăneci began
gymnastics in the kindergarten.
 1967: She was spotted by famous
coach Bela Karolyi, who invited
her to attend his gymnastics
school.
 1970: Nadia began competing as
a member of her hometown team
and became the youngest gymnast
ever to win the Romanian
Nationals.

4.  1971: At her first international
competition, she won the all-around title.
1972: Nadia won three gold medals in a
pre-Olympic junior meet for the
communist-bloc countries.
 1973, 1974: All-around junior champion.
 1975: She bested the Russian Lyudmila
Turishcheva, winning four gold medals and
one silver.
 1976: She won the American Cup in New
York City, becoming the first woman to
perform a backward double salto as a
dismount from the uneven bars.

5.  1976: Nadia thrilled the world at the
Olympic Games in Montreal, where she
received seven perfect scores (10), which
the scoreboard displayed as 1.00.
 She won the gold medals for the balance
beam, the uneven bars, and the all-around
individual competition, a silver medal as a
member of her team and a bronze medal
for the floor exercises.
 Thus, Nadia is the first Romanian
gymnast to win the Olympic all-around
title. She also holds the record for being
the youngest Olympic gymnastics all-
around champion ever.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi_5xbd5xdE

6.  1977, 1978, 1979: Nadia successfully
defended her European all-around title.
 1979: She contributed to the first team
gold medal at the World Championships.
 1980: At the Olympic Games in
Moscow, she won gold medals for the
balance beam and the floor exercises and
a silver medal with the team and in the
all-around individual competition.
 1984: She retired officially from
competition and worked as a coach for
the Romanian team.

7.  1989: She defected to the USA.
 1993: Nadia became the 2nd person (after
Olga Korbut) inducted into the International
Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
 1996: Married with American gymnast Bart
Conner, they work to promote gymnastics.
 1999: Nadia Comăneci received a World
Sports Award of the Century after being
elected Athlete of the Century.
 She published an autobiography, Nadia
(1981), and a book on mentoring, Letters to a
Young Gymnast (2003).

8.  the greatest Romanian footballer
of all times;
 one of the best attacking
midfielders in Europe during the
1980’s and 1990’s;
 nickname: "The Maradona of the
Carpathians";
 renowned for his technique,
vision, passing and finishing;

9.  1965: Born in Săcele, Constanţa, on
the 5th of February, Hagi started to
play for the local youth team in the
1970s.
 1980: He was selected by the
Romanian Football Federation to join
the junior squad of Luceafărul
București.
 1987: Hagi was transferred to
Romanian giants Steaua București for
their European Super Cup final
against Dynamo Kyiv. He enjoyed
three great seasons with this team.Glorious years with Steaua Bucureşti

10.  1988-1989: His strong performances
had him linked with AC Milan and FC
Bayern Munich, but the communist
government rejected any offer.
 1990: After the 1990 World Cup, he
signed with Real Madrid for two years.
 1994: The memorable performance
during the 1994 World Cup brought
Hagi a contract with FC Barcelona.
 1996: Hagi signed for Galatasaray,
where he was both successful and
highly popular among the Turkish
supporters.

11.  Hagi was an important
member of the team which
would win four consecutive
league titles.
 Galatasaray managed to win
the UEFA Cup after defeating
Arsenal in the finals and the
European Super Cup with a
historic win against Real Madrid
(unmatched performance in
Turkish football history).
 In 2000, at the age of 35, Hagi
had the best days of his career
winning every possible trophy
with Galatasaray.
Hagi is like wine, the older it gets, the better it is.
(French ex-international Luis Fernández)

12.  1983: Hagi made his debut for
the Romania national team
against Norway.
 He would be part of the
Romanian team until 2000.
 1994: He led the Romanian
team to its best ever
international performance at the
World Cup, reaching the
quarterfinals. He scored three
memorable goals, being
nominated for the Team the
Tournament.
Hagi scored against Colombia with a fantastic
long-range lob over goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GzGOm4Ohcg

13.  2001: Hagi started his career as coach of the
National team.
 Like so many great players, success in
coaching has proved more difficult for Hagi
than fulfilment on the pitch, with stints at
former clubs Galatasaray and Steaua
Bucharest among his disappointments.
 However, he has dedicated himself to
unearthing Romania’s talents by setting up a
football academy in his hometown.
 One of his students is his son, Ianis Hagi,
now 18, a promising talent likewise his father.

14.  impressed everyone with her fast
ascent;
 is currently considered the best
Romanian female tennis player;
 the highest ranking Romanian in
the WTA history;

15.  1991: Born in Constanţa, on the 27th of
September, Simona started playing tennis
when she was only four.
 2008: She started playing in junior
competitions, reaching the final in
Nottinghill.
 2008: Simona won the all-Romanian
final at the Roland Garros Junior
Championships.
With the Roland Garros Junior Championships
trophy in 2008
With Gheorghe Hagi, who inspired
her since childhood

16.  2010: Her breakthrough on the WTA tour
occurred during the Andalucia Tennis
Experience on the clay courts of Marbella,
Spain, where she advanced to the
quarterfinals.
2011: Simona qualified for the first time in
her career in the third round of a tennis
Grand Slam on seniors at Australian Open.
 2012: At the end of the year, Simona first
broke into the world's top 50.
 She start winning over top-10 ranked
players.Wimbledon, 2011

17.  2013: She won her first 6 WTA titles,
being named the WTA’s Most
Improved Player at the end of the year.
 Simona won her first two WTA titles
back-to-back, at the Nürnberger
Versicherungscup and at the Topshelf
Open, becoming the first Romanian
tennis player to win back-to-back
tournaments on different surfaces.
 She was also the only player of the
year to win titles on clay, grass, hard,
and indoor courts, as well as the
second most successful player behind
Serena Williams in terms of number of
titles won.
The first WTA title, at the
Nürnberger Versicherungscup, 2013

18.  2014: Simona competed in the final
of the Qatar Open and won her first
ever Premier 5 tournament.
 At the French Open she reached her
first Major final, without losing a set,
losing eventually to Maria Sharapova
after a match of over three hours.
 Halep beat two-time defending
champion Serena Williams 6-0, 6-2 at
the WTA Finals, but she eventually lost
against her in the final match.
During the French Open Final, 2014

19.  2015, Jan.: Simona played at the Shenzhen
Open, winning her 9th WTA.
2015, Febr.: She won her 10th WTA title (and her
2nd Premier 5 tournament) in the hard court
event at Dubai.
2015, March: Simona won her first BNP Paribas
Open title and her 11th title of career at Indian
Wells Masters.
 Simona is praised by specialists: “She has a
lovely fluidity of movement and superb balance
that enables her to comfortably trade with more
powerful players.” (The Independent)
 www.youtube.com/watch?v=SztU1TFal9s