Perfect 10: 50 years on, Laureus lifetime honour finds legend Comaneci
Simone Biles presenting the award to her idol marks an emotional moment
There are some global sporting landmarks which have really stood the test of time — be it Bob Beamon’s leap into the future, Wilt Chamberlain’s single game scoring record of 100 points in the NBA or Tiger Woods winning the US Open with a fractured leg. None could, however, capture the public imagination like 14-year-old Romanian Nadia Comaneci’s first-ever perfect 10 at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, a record that reaches 50 years on 18 July.
When the 64-year-old Romanian diva of gymnastics was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid earlier this week, the sense of occasion was not lost on current sporting superstars like a Carlos Alcaraz or Aryna Sabalenka, the recipients of Laureus Sportspersons of the Year. What made the occasion even more poignant was that US 'golden girl' Simone Biles and Nadia's husband Bart Conner — Olympics gold medallists both — handing over the award.
“The award goes to my hero and sporting inspiration Nadia Comaneci”, were Biles’ final words before introducing Conner to the stage to hand over the award.
The Laureus has been heralded as the Oscar of sporting awards since its inception in 1999, and the honours capped the celebrations after the European Parliament honoured the Romanian, a Special Olympics Global Ambassador, in March. Speaking at the Laureus awards, Nadia — a founding member of the Laureus Foundation — said: “I would have to say five perfect 10s anniversary because 50 sounds so long ago,” before adding: “17 seconds of my life at the Olympics changed everything.”
The image of Nadia as she earned three gold medals in Montreal — all-round, uneven bars and balance beam — with three scores of 10 still holds high recall for the fan on the street, even in a cricket-obsessed country like India where gymnastics is only followed with a casual interest. She added a silver with the Romanian team and bronze on floor exercise, before adding four more medals in Moscow 1980, two gold and two silver.
Her becoming the first gymnast to score a 10.00 was akin to being the first summiteer of Mt Everest, and six more gymnasts emulated her before the perfect 10 score was abolished from Beijing 2008 due to a scoring controversy at the Athens Olympics.
The others who emulated Nadia were Nellie Kim of erstwhile USSR in Montreal itself; Mary Lou Retton (USA, 1984); Daniela Silivas (Romania) and Yelena Shushunova (USSR, both 1988), Lu Li (China) and Lavinia Milosvici, Romania (1992). No prizes for guessing that Nadia left a lasting legacy among aspiring Romanian gymnasts of dreaming big.
She was a fierce critic of the world body's decision to revamp the scoring format and abolish the 10 scores. ‘’I kind of created the 10 and I feel bad it went away. I’m not happy about it,’’ the five-times Olympics gold medallist said then. ‘’It belongs to gymnastics. I feel after so many years, everyone identifies the 10 with the sport of gymnastics. Now it’s like we've given the branding away.’’