Sporting Greats TV - Shawn Johnson - Nadia Comaneci - Faster Higher Stronger: Stories of the Olympic Games TV - The Olympic Series TV - Eternal Princess TV - Storyville TV - Olympic Dreams of Russian Gold: Over the Limit & At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal TV - Gymnastics: A Culture of Abuse TV -
And no gymnast has achieved that perfection more than Romania’s Nadia Comaneci. In the 1976 Olympics she became the first girl to score a perfect ten. She won five Olympic golds, and is the only woman to have won three European Championships. Sporting Greats: Nadia Comaneci
At fourteen she would go to the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. ibid.
A comeback in gymnastics is almost impossible in itself. Shawn Johnson
I’m doing four hours of gymnastics training a day, six days a week and then an extra two to three hours in a fitness centre as well. Shawn Johnson
I worked hard in gymnastics since the time I was six years old until I retired at 23 years of age. Nadia Comaneci
The Olympic Games of 1976: 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci steps up to the uneven bars and into history ... She is awarded the first ever ten out of ten in Olympic competition. Faster Higher Stronger – Stories of the Olympic Games II, BBC 2012
New twists, turns and somersaults to already daring routines. ibid.
The Melbourne games of 1956 ... Only the second games where women had been allowed to compete for individual medals, but here was a new beginning. ibid.
Larisa Latynina: 9 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze. ibid.
She [Vera Caslavska] introduced new feeling and emotion to gymnastics; and for the first time Vera brought an alluring even sexy presence to the women’s competition. ibid.
In Mexico City Caslavska completely dominated the women’s competition. ibid.
Vera returned home a hero to the Czech people but an enemy to the state. ibid.
Vera Caslavska: 7 gold, 4 silver. ibid.
For the Japanese each gymnastic move has its own life of beauty ... Kato conquered all six men’s disciplines. ibid.
Sawao Kato: 8 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze. ibid.
The Japanese invented moves of ever greater difficulty. ibid.
Olga Korbut: 4 Gold, 3 Silver. ibid.
Nadia Comaneci: 5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze. ibid.
1992: Li Xiao Shuang attempted the first ever backwards triple somersault. ibid.
Vitaly Scherbo ... 1992 Barcelona Olympics where he won six gold medals – the biggest haul of any gymnast at any single games. The Olympic Series: The Olympic Spirit
Television would make gymnasts global superstars. ibid.
Korbut won four Olympic gold medals. ibid.
In Montreal in 1976 Nadia Comaneci provided spell-binding perfection in the same discipline. ibid.
You have a minute and ten seconds to showcase what you can do. Every four years. Eternal Princess, Comeneci, ESPN short 2016
The first time I have ever seen that in Olympic competition: a perfect ten. ibid. commentary
Six hours a day. ibid. Comeneci
Nadia scored six additional perfect 10s and won five medals in the 1976 Olympics. ibid.
Interviewer: Do you have any personal goals?
Russian Gymnast: We should push past our limits. Storyville: Olympic Dreams of Russian Gold: Over the Limit, BBC 2019
She’s not a fighter. So why the hell do we need her? ibid. Russian coach to Russian coach
It’s possible we won’t go to the Olympics. ibid. gymnast to mother
Nothing gets in the way from gymnast first. At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal, Dr Larry Nassar 6th December 2013, HBO 2019
There is a whole institution of people who knew through these years. ibid. woman
This is probably the darkest stain in US Olympic history. ibid.
An arrangement that’s bound to create abuse. ibid.
The former team doctor for USA Gymnastics for 20 years is facing dozens of accusations of sexual abuse including one from a former Olympian. ibid. television news
In 2000 Bela and Marta Karolyi took over the US national team program. As part of a new semi-centralised system, they required all national team gymnasts to attend monthly camps at the Karolyi ranch in Texas. ibid. caption
He was a typical serial paedophile: charming, powerful … the nice guy. ibid. Marci Hamilton, child safety advocate
They did not want to believe a single girl. From 1997 to 2015 there were 17 incidents of reporting just in Michigan state alone. ibid. dude
Nassar was first arrested on charges of abusing the daughter of a family friend. Since she was not a patient, there could be no defence of ‘medically necessary’ treatments. ibid. caption
An FBI agent’s saying they’ve found at least 37,000 images and videos of child pornography on hard-drives belonging to Dr Larry Nasser. ibid.
In July 2017, Nassar plead guilty to possession of child pornography. He was still facing 25 sexual assault charges in the state of Michigan. ibid.
British gymnastics is a success story for Team GB. This Olympic year especially it’s a story that children around the country want to be part of … But it does not end well for everyone. Over the past 30 years there have been many complaints about the treatment and bullying of gymnasts. Coaches have also been jailed for offences ranging from sexual assault to rape. Victims are now taking action against the sport’s governing body, British Gymnastics. Gymnastics: A Culture of Abuse? ITV 2024
A review in 2020 which found that there was a culture of emotional and physical abuse embedded in clubs around the country. ibid.