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MDA's Perfect 10s |
by Bill Greenberg
Bart Conner & Nadia Comaneci |
In September - less than two weeks after Jerry Lewis sings the final notes of "You'll Never Walk Alone" to conclude the MDA Telethon - the Olympic flame will light up the city of Sydney, Australia. Once again, the MDA community will have extra reason to cheer during the gymnastics portion of the Games, as NBC's Olympic coverage includes commentary and expert analysis from MDA's own dynamic duo - Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci.
The MDA crowd is well aware of the two Olympic gold medalists' long-term service to MDA. In 1982, Conner gave a special gymnastics performance on the MDA Telethon, which included providing a tuxedoed Jerry Lewis with lessons on the pommel horse. It would turn out to be the first step in a commitment to the Association that's lasted almost two decades.
Conner continued to appear on the national show from 1983 until 1989, when he first became the host of the Chicago broadcast on WGN. A few years ago, he was joined by fellow Olympic legend Nadia Comaneci and the pair quickly became two of MDA's most popular and sought-after ambassadors, filming public service announcements and making numerous appearances on the Association's behalf across the country every year.
Conner has also served as MDA's national sports chairman and an MDA national vice president. This summer, after years of dedicated service, he was elected to the Association's Board of Directors, while Comaneci was named an MDA vice president.
It's no surprise that NBC chose the husband-and-wife gymnastics champions for its Olympic broadcast team. The two recent inductees into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, among their many diverse interests, operate the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in Norman, Okla.
In addition to their obvious technical expertise, Conner and Comaneci bring their own unique, personal experiences as past gold medal winners on the Olympic stage. While the world watches this year's Olympic hopefuls compete, they'll provide great insight into the many different roads that lead to Olympic glory - and just how difficult the journey can be.
From Chicago to Los Angeles
From a very early age, Bart Conner's parents realized two things about their young son - he had an overabundance of energy, and he could walk on his hands almost as easily as he could on his feet.
When Bart was 10, he was enrolled in the gymnastics program at the local YMCA, and, by the time he was 14, the Chicago youth had become the U.S. junior national champion. Three years later, he became the youngest ever U.S. Gymnastics Federation all-around champion.
In 1976, Conner enrolled at the University of Oklahoma, leading that school to the NCAA national team gymnastics championship in 1978 - bringing home the individual all-around championship as well. Conner was the overall high scorer in the U.S. Olympic trials in 1980, but was forced to watch the Olympics on television as part of the U.S. decision to boycott the Moscow Games.
A series of torn biceps injuries in 1983 nearly derailed Conner's Olympic dreams. But hard work, courage and determination prevailed, as Conner not only struck gold on the parallel bars (scoring two perfect 10s in the process), but also led the U.S. team to an upset gold medal victory over the highly touted defending world champion team from China in the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
He's the first American gymnast to win gold medals at every level of national and international competition, but Conner will tell you that his greatest triumph was winning a different kind of gold - a wedding band from his 1996 marriage to fellow Olympic legend Comaneci.
From Bucharest to Montreal ... and Beyond
Because gymnastics isn't a so-called "mainstream" sport, most Americans probably couldn't name the top U.S. hopefuls for the Sydney Games. Which makes it all the more remarkable that everybody still remembers the 14-year-old Romanian girl who stole the show during the Montreal Games of 1976 - some 24 years ago.
Growing up in Bucharest, Nadia Comaneci was only 6 when she first caught the eye of legendary Romanian (now U.S.) gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi. Three years later, she was the Romanian junior national champion. In 1975, 13-year-old Nadia exploded onto the international stage as she swept three individual events en route to winning the European all-around championship.
By the end of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, the whole world would know the name Nadia Comaneci.
She scored the first perfect 10 in the history of women's gymnastics and followed it with six more. Winning individual gold medals on both the balance beam and the uneven bars, Nadia led her team to a surprise silver medal, winning the all-around championship gold medal in the process. Four years later, during the 1980 Moscow Games, she followed her Montreal triumph with four more medals.
But it was the image of the tiny Romanian teen-ager at Montreal that all of us still remember - her athleticism, her grace and the sheer perfection of her routines.
The deeper America's love affair with Comaneci grew, the more concerned Romania's communist government became. Shortly after her triumphant Moscow performance, the young gymnast was informed that she'd no longer be allowed to leave her native country.
In 1989, Comaneci defected from Romania to the United States, leaving behind the Olympic medals she'd worked so hard to win - medals that symbolized the glory she'd brought to a country she was now forced to flee.
New Dreams and a Happy Ending to an Old Nightmare
What do you do when you've achieved the goals to which you've dedicated your life, and you're still only 26 - like Bart Conner? What if you've won every accolade in your chosen field by age 18 - like Nadia Comaneci - only to have the government forbid you to travel abroad, let alone compete?
If you're these champions, you not only find new dreams to pursue; you discover the deep personal satisfaction that comes from helping others achieve their dreams.
During his rehabilitation from torn biceps, Conner's commitment to MDA's fight against neuromuscular disease grew. Meanwhile, the fall of communism in Romania brought more to Comaneci than a joyful reunion with her family and the return of her medals. It also allowed her to marry Conner in a state ceremony in Bucharest in the spring of 1996.
Conner and Comaneci won't be able to co-host the Chicago Telethon broadcast this year because of the extensive travel and preparation required in advance of their coverage of the Sydney Games. But they'll still be highly visible in pretaped messages.
In the fight against neuromuscular diseases - as in everything else they've undertaken - Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci never take the floor expecting anything less than pure gold. 
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