Remembering perfection - Nadia and the first “10”

Perhaps the most important Olympic Games happened 40 years ago this summer. Montreal 1976 were the first “Games” after the Munich tragedy in 1972. The horrific terrorist attack that left eleven Israeli athletes dead was an event that stunned the world and still has no equivalent in global sports history.  Almost forgotten from Munich were the underlying cold war overtones that permeated the games before and after the tragedy. Judges and athletes from Eastern Bloc countries were questioned. Scores seemed oddly biased and what we now know as “doping” became evident almost for the first time. The final seconds of men’s gold medal basketball game between the United States and the USSR was replayed three times! (The USSR eventually won.) To this day the American team refuses their silver medals. Luckily through this fog emerged American heroes like Mark Spitz, Melissa Belote, Sandy Neilson, Dave Wottle and Frank Shorter. But Munich 1972 left a dark cloud over the Olympic Games that Montreal had to fix.

Montreal, Canada mid-July 1976:  The world watched the opening ceremonies with renewed hope for a safer, cleaner, more uplifting Olympics. As Americans, we also wanted redemption for disappointment in Munich (aside from Spitz’ seven gold medals in swimming that is). As always, the games started with swimming and gymnastics and ended with track and field.  Heroes began to emerge. American swimmer John Nabor (four gold) and divers Jenni Chandler and Phil Boggs, were followed by track gold medalists Edwin Moses (400 m hurtles), Mac Wilkins (discus) and decathlete, Bruce Jenner. My favorite memory however was the US Boxing team. After just one gold medal in Munich, a largely unheralded US team in Montreal conducted a shocking two week night by night journey to FIVE gold medals. From virtual obscurity emerged names like “Sugar” Ray Leonard, Leo Randolph, Howard Davis, plus Leon and Michael Spinks to win gold! Of course, the men’s basketball team led by Adrian Dantley redeemed itself as well, easily winning gold.

      

There were other non-American winners as well:  Kornelia Ender from West Germany (four gold medals in swimming). Track & Field: Lasse Viren from Finland (5000 & 10,000 m , John Walker from New Zealand (1500 m), Alberto Juantorena from Cuba (400 & 800 m). And who can forget weightlifter “The Great” Alekseyev from USSR?

Above all the most enduring memory from the Montreal games of 1976 was Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci. At just 14 years of age, Nadia captured the world’s imagination by making the first ever perfect score of 10 during the opening compulsories. She would duplicate this amazing feat six more times that first week winning the best all-around, balance beam and uneven bars gold medals. The song “Bless the Beasts and Children” the theme for soap opera “Young and the Restless,” became affectionately known as “Nadia’s Theme” and Nadia became the inspiration for future gymnasts to come.

Nadia on the balance beam.  In the backdrop are images from the 1976 games: look closely to identify some of people I've talked about.

Acrylic, wax, pencil on clayboard.  16”x 20”