This Day in History July 31, 1984

I can still remember this date.  In fact, they were just talking about this last night on the Olympics coverage.  The last time the USA men's gymnastics team won gold was on this date in 1984.  It was the Olympics that was held in Los Angeles (I remember thinking it was strange that the Olympics were held in the U.S.--I thought they only held the Olympics in other countries!).  I thought it was the normal thing for the men's gymnastic team to win gold!  I actually thought we were the best in the gymnastics--period.  After all, I had watched and fallen in love with Mary Lou Renton.

Until I was reading about this, I had forgotten that the Soviet Union boycotted this Olympics (since the U.S. had boycotted the 1980 Moscow Games).  This was the first time in history that the U.S. men's gymnastics team had won gold.  The team was comprised of Tim Daggett, Bart Connor, Mitch Gaylord, James Hartung, Scott Johnson and Peter Vidmar.

For more information, please check out:

http://voices.yahoo.com/usa-gymnastics-wins-gold-medals-1984-olympics-11623210.html

http://famousdaily.com/history/us-gymnastics-gold-summer-olympics-la.html

This Day in History July 18, 1976

I am not old enough to remember this date--I was only two at the time.  But I heard about her, of course.  I was old enough to see Mary Lou Renton--I will never forget her routine.  But Nadia Comaneci was the one who on this date in 1976 scored the first perfect 10 ever on a gymnast routine--it was on the uneven bars.



It is worth watching that routine--it was unbelievable!  The scoreboard was not equipped to show 10.0, so it showed a 1.00 which at first confused the crowd.  She was only 14 when she won this perfect 10 in addition to six others.  She was the first Romanian gymnast to win the all-around title in gymnastics.  She earned a total of three gold medals, a team silver, and a bronze medal.  She won two gold medals in 1980, retired from gymnastics in 1984, and then defected to the U.S. in 1989.

I know there is a lot that can be said about gymnastics, Nadia, Romania, and more, but all I will say is that she was one of the most amazing athletes to ever compete in the modern Olympics.  I am grateful about the changes that have been made in gymnastics since her time, but her performance from 1976 is still just as amazing today as it was then.

For more information, please check out:
http://people.famouswhy.com/nadia_comaneci/
http://www.biography.com/people/nadia-comaneci-9254240
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Comaneci
http://famousdaily.com/history/nadia-comaneci-scores-perfect-10.html