Word: comanecis
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...NADIA COMANECI Bucharest...
...When Comaneci entered the Sports Palace for the start of the team competition, she towered over her Rumanian teammates like an icy queen. She was tied for first place after the compulsory exercises. In the optionals, she opened on the balance beam, dazzling the crowd with what seemed to be a flawless routine. Her score was slow in being posted because of a computer problem. After seven minutes she was awarded a disappointing 9.9, which drew a volley of whistles and catcalls. The Rumanian among the six judges was nearly apoplectic, as was Comaneci's coach, who lodged...
That incident, as it turned out, was a harbinger of more disappointments. Going into the final rotation in the all-around competition, Comaneci was in sole possession of first place. She went to the uneven parallel bars, where she had scored back-to-back 10s in Montreal, and started her routine with glyptic precision and dancer's grace. Suddenly as she flew over the bar, she was unable to regain her grip and fell what seemed a dangerously long way to the mat. She resumed the exercise, receiving a 9.5 score, the maximum allowed after a fall. The Soviet...
Since the scores in team competition count for half of a gymnast's total in the all-around finals, it appeared that Comaneci had no chance to repeat as gold medalist. Yet she reeled off a 10 on the parallel bars and began the last rotation as one of three women with a shot at top honors...
...Comaneci was last, and she approached the beam needing a 9.9 to tie Davidova, a 9.95 to win outright. Until this Olympics, she had not scored below 9.95 Son the four-inch wide apparatus, and there seemed no reason why she could not lift her score again. But her knee bent ever so slightly on a difficult 360° rotation, and she lost her balance for a millisecond after a patented front flip with a half twist. Even so, she seemed tinged with gold...