Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Olympic games for destination: "MONTREAL Town QUEBEC".
When the Games were initially awarded to Montreal, it was estimated
that they would cost $ 310 million. Well, there must have been some poor
accountancy involved because the cost of the stadium alone went well over the
$ 486 million mark while the final bill for the Canadian government amounted
to $ 1,480 million. With the Munich disaster still fresh in memory, Canadians
spent $ 125 million for security systems, which were to be manned by 10,000
policemen and 7,500 commandos. Montreal 1976 is the year of a 14-year old girl
from Rumania, with a face full of arrogance and strong will, a face that will
demand and earn the whole world's admiration. That's Nadia Comaneci who, the
very first Games-day, scored the first ever maximum of 10.00 marks achieved
at the Olympics.
A Bella Karoly pupil, Comaneci returned to her native Rumania full
of fame and glory. She poses for magazines, she erupts at discos, she is living
the big life. She met and got engaged to Nicu Tchausesku, son of the dictator
and lived with him in a small mansion, in a classy suburb. She traveled a lot
and when at home, she gave lush receptions. She skipped training routine, contrary
to Caroly's insistence.
Nadia was an unhappy child who grew-up in extreme poverty, with
a father she could hardly remember after his disappearance and with an autocratic
mother who had to work in two jobs in order to face living expenses. At a school
gymnastics demonstration she attracts Caroly's attention. Caroly arranges for
a trial gymnastics day. The great trainer realizes that he has discovered a
rare talent. He undertakes to train her personally and manages to convince the
state to give some financial aid to her family. He designs a special program
for her. Under Caroly's tough, some times exhausting training and instruction,
Nadia proves to be not only a rare, natural gymnastics talent but a phenomenon
of persistence, endurance and strong will.
Now, in Rumania, Nadia ends her relationship with the dictator's
son and is seen at parties with an upcoming rock singer. In 1989 she meets Panait
Constantin, an American restaurant owner of Rumanian descent. She persuades
him to take her along with him to the U.S. The Rumanian authorities deny her
the issuing of a passport. Nadia manages to convince Panait to cross over the
border to Hungary with her. She asks for an asylum and the Hungarians are pleased
to oblige. Asylum, plus a visa to enter America. She arrives in New York where
she settles. She poses for hundreds of magazines and newspapers, she appears
more than a hundred times in TV programs and within 6 months she manages to
amass a substantial fortune. When Bella Caroly, by then a U.S. citizen, asked
to see her, she refused...
Text by Dimitri N. Marcopoulos
Montreal 1976
Links with various Organizations' WebPages:
The Olympic Movement
American Sport Art Museum and Archives , a division of the United States Sports Academy
International Sailing Federation
Montreal 1976
Links with various Media's WebPages:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
British Broadcasting Corporation
1976 Montreal Olympics: Various WebPages
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