"Girls have been strong" - Nadia Comaneci shares important message amid talks about women's sports at the ESPYs

Gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci recently shared an inspirational message about women's sports. The former Romanian gymnast had attended the ESPY Awards 2025.

Comaneci shared glimpses of her visit to the award ceremony on her Instagram profile. The gymnast also shared a video of her Perfect 10 moment from the Montreal Olympics 1976 on her X and Instagram handles.

Comaneci captioned the post:

"Girls are strong /they have always been/ don’t let anyone take that away from you/ 49 years ago The Perfect 10 was born @Olympics"

On July 18, 1976, the 14-year-old Comaneci earned her first Perfect 10 in the uneven bars segment of the team all-around event held at the Montreal Olympics. Interestingly, the digital scoreboard wasn't prepared for such a historic moment, which is why the score initially read 1.0 instead of 10.00.

However, once the actual scores were confirmed, Nadia Comaneci went on to become the first gymnast to achieve this historic feat. The Olympic champion gymnast further added six more 10s at the quadrennial event held in Montreal. These included three Perfect 10s in the uneven bars event and the remaining in the balance beam event.

---

When Nadia Comaneci backed Ana Barbosu over Jordan Chiles over the bronze medal controversy

Nadia Comaneci opened up about the bronze medal controversy at the Paris Olympics - (Image Source: Getty)

Nadia Comaneci had expressed her strong opinions over the bronze medal controversy at the floor exercise finals in the Paris Olympics. She had called out the authorities for initially awarding the bronze medal to Jordan Chiles over the original winner, Ana Barbosu of Romania.

Comaneci, who is also the honorary president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, posted on her X account:

"I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them #anabarbosu"

For the unversed, Jordan Chiles was initially placed fifth in the finals of the floor exercise event. The gymnast and her coach, Cecile Landi, submitted an enquiry for appeal, following which her scores were updated. She was promoted to third place, while Ana Barbosu slipped down to fourth place.

However, the Romanian authorities, led by Nadia Comaneci, protested against the same. They alleged that Chiles and her coach submitted the enquiry beyond the stipulated deadline, and appealed against the panel's decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The jury pronounced the verdict in Romania's favor, and the bronze medal was restored to Ana Barbosu.

Edited by Samya Majumdar