Retired legendary gymnast Nadia Comaneci has become an ambassador of the UVT Liberty marathon, which will take place in Timisoara, with her signature to be printed on the medals to be handed to the winning runners, according to organisers.

'Nadia Comaneci becomes the UVT Liberty Marathon 2026 ambassador, 50 years after she made history with the 'perfect ten' at the Montreal Olympic Games. UVT Liberty Marathon, the road running competition that has established itself as the most prestigious marathon in western Romania, continues the tradition through which great Olympic champions become part of the story of the running community in Timisoara. For the ninth edition, which will take place on October 3 and 4, 2026, the ambassador of the competition is Nadia Comaneci, the legend who forever changed the history of world sport with the first 'perfect 10' at the Montreal Olympic Games. The announcement has a special meaning, in a year in which the entire sports world celebrates 50 years since the moment that redefined excellence in sport and turned Nadia Comaneci's name into a symbol recognised on all continents.'

At UVT Liberty Marathon 2026, Comaneci will sign the official medal of the competition. Each year, the medal handed at the end bears the signature of a great Romanian Olympic champion, 'transforming it into a symbol of courage, perseverance and performance.'

Comaneci's signature joins some emblematic names of Romanian sport such as Constantina Dita, Simona Amanar, Camelia Potec, Andreea Raducan, Mihai Covaliu, Ana-Maria Branza, Gabriela Szabo and Alina Dumitru.

'A champion becomes a champion when he or she manages to navigate a competition on a bad day, because if everything is perfect and everything goes well, it is much easier. It's good to try to control only what you can control, but also to have a plan B and a plan C, when everything doesn't work out right. I've always thought about what I can offer, what I know I've prepared for training, I've tried not to think about the outside pressure. Even if sometimes you feel like you can't, the desire to test your limits is real and you want to try, so you realise that you can do more. Perfection is a status that a champion has who wants to achieve excellence through his or her own powers, through his or her own talent, it is precisely the discovery of that talent. Whether it's creativity, or innovation, or identifying performative details hidden at first glance, all of these are the basis of perfection. A champion is not afraid, even if he or she can be nervous at times. The fact that I can inspire others by my results means to me that I have had and achieved a goal. Congratulations UVT, I am very happy to be here as UVT Liberty Marathon ambassador and I am glad to be with the rector of UVT, Marilen Pirtea, and Mihai Covaliu, president of COSR,' said Comaneci at the announcement event of the UVT Liberty Marathon 2026 ambassador.

The appointment of Nadia Comanneci as ambassador of UVT Liberty Marathon was also welcomed by Mihai Covaliu, chairman of the Romanian Olympic Committee (COSR), partner of the Vest University of Timisoara (UVT).

'2026 is a special year, a year in which we celebrate a huge athlete, a planetary athlete, as we called her, because Nadia is not only known and appreciated in Romania, but all over the world. This year is entirely dedicated to her, because we are celebrating 50 years since that moment that changed the history of sport worldwide, and I say it because she is the first athlete in the world who, through a routine, through her evolution at the Olympic Games, reached perfection, achieved that perfect score that the scoreboard was not ready to show, and since then Nadia has marked the moment when an athlete got to get the highest grade, the perfect grade, which went down in history. Here, after 50 years, we are now when we can enjoy together because an athlete from Romania, Nadia Comaneci, was that athlete who changed history in world sports. COSR enjoys the partnership with UVT, a partnership close to our hearts, because at UVT there are people who love sports, who organise this marathon every year. To us it is an honour and a joy that we are partners and can bring athletes and great performers of Romania to be ambassadors of UVT Liberty Marathon, as it is this year, even more honourable, when Nadia Comaneci is the ambassador of this event, which I am convinced will be very successful,' Covaliu said.

UVT Rector Marilen Gabriel Pirtea said that the 2026 edition of the marathon bears the name of the most important Romanian athlete, well known on all continents.

'In an anniversary year, 50 years after the legendary ten appeared symbolised on the Montreal table, Nadia Comaneci is the ambassador of the 2026 edition of the UVT Liberty Marathon. We are organising the ninth edition of the Marathon of Freedom in Timisoara and, as every year, we designate an Olympic champion, together with COSR, as ambassador of the competition. This year, Nadia Comanneci will be the image of the marathon; she will sign the marathon medal and will put a signature on the diplomas and insignia of the over five thousand participants in the UVT Liberty Marathon. As we say every time, it will be a celebration of freedom, sport, fair play, ambition, work, perseverance, team spirit and, in the end, even fun. Beyond the sport itself, beyond running on the marathon route in Timisoara, there are many other messages that we send, related to social involvement, liberation, overcoming limits, with which we teach students at UVT, to become good citizens of the country and the cities in which they will live,' Pirtea said.

UVT Liberty Marathon will take place on the weekend of October 3-4, 2026, in Timisoara, and offers accessible races for any level of training, from 2 to 42 km. Registration is open on https://libertymarathon.uvt.ro. AGERPRES (RO - editing by: Adrian Tone; EN - writing by: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)