The great gymnast Nadia Comaneci, decorated on Saturday by President Nicușor Dan with the National Order of the Star of Romania in the Grand Cross degree, spoke about the moment she became Olympic champion at just 14 years old, saying that, looking back, she is proud of the child she was and of the courage she had back then.

The distinction was offered to him on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, 'as a sign of high gratitude, appreciation and pride for the dedication and exceptional professionalism with which he contributed to consolidating the Olympic prestige of our country, forever redefining the limits of human excellence and inscribing his name in the sporting and identity heritage of Romania'.

'Looking at the 14-year-old girl and thinking about what it means to compete in the Olympic Games, I myself get emotional, seeing that girl with the strength she was able to have at 14 years old, especially on the beam, which is so difficult and the moment you enter a big competition, like the Olympics, your legs start to shake a little,' said Nadia Comaneci, after the ceremony.

Because 2026 was declared 'Nadia Comaneci Year', she confessed that she wants this to be an opportunity to attract children to sports.

'I am proud of that little girl, I am proud that I can be here to celebrate this wonderful moment with my family here and with my husband, who has not seen the warmth of Romanians and our traditions until now, and I hope that this visit and the year of Nadia will be a restart for today's generation (...). We must create opportunities for children to practice sports, it is extremely important for them to be busy with something, there are a lot of distractions at this young age and children tend to go in directions that are not really good, and sports are a place that teaches you all the qualities you need. (...) There are extremely important things and values ??that are learned through sports,' Nadia Comaneci said.

The former champion explained that she was always motivated to push her limits.

'Talent is very welcome, but you don't realize you have talent until you discover what you're talented at. Every time my coach told me, 'Today you have to do 10 pieces,' I did 11. He told me 12, I did 13. And I realized that, over time, every extra I did that day helped my bag to be fuller. I always wanted to discover my limits - I thought, 'Can I only do ten or can I do more?'' confessed Nadia Comaneci.

She also called for encouraging the practice of sports from an early age.

'We lost a lot at the base... we give money up, to those who won, but something is needed at school - physical education and sports, to cover that base. Every school has a place where it can create the opportunity for children to do sports and bring in sports teachers who are paid more and have this interest in helping children,' added Nadia Comaneci.AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Ghita, editing by: Mihai Simionescu; EN - writing by: Catalin Cristian Trandafir)