The 1984 movie, Nadia, which you can watch here, included 1978 Gold Medal gymnast Marcia Frederick, who performed the gymnastics routines as Nadia Comaneci, her one-time rival and since friend... Here is the final installment for Marcia Frederick Day on Henry Fredericks Facebook Nation page in recognition of her 52nd birthday... While Marcia Fredericks dream of competing in the Olympics was taken away by the politics of the Cold War and a weak president (remember Jesse Owens starring for US in Berlin at the 1936 Olympics and winning Gold against the Aryan Supremacy... A black man kicking Nazi asses), but Marcias fiercest competitor, Nadia Comaneci had a rougher time in the decade after the Mowcow Olympics. Heres what happened as described in a Wikipedia summary: In 1981 Comăneci participated in a gymnastics exhibition tour in the US. During the tour, her coaches, Béla and Marta Károlyi, along with the Romanian team choreographer Géza Pozsár, defected. Upon her return to Romania, Comănecis actions were strictly monitored. She was granted leave to attend the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles but was supervised for the entire trip. Aside from that journey, and a few select trips to Moscow and Cuba, Comăneci was forbidden to leave the country for any reason. Life... she wrote in her autobiography, took on a new bleakness In Romania, between 1984 and 1989, Comăneci was a member of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and helped coach the Romanian junior gymnasts. In November 1989, a few weeks before the revolution, she defected with a group of other young Romanians. Her overland journey took her through Hungary, Austria, and finally, to the United States. Her initial arrival in the US generated some negative press, focusing on her penchant for heavy makeup and flashy clothes, and the fact that her constant companion Constantin Panait (a Romanian exile who arranged her escape from Romania and initially exercised considerable control over her as her self-appointed business manager) was a married father of four. With the help of her former coach Béla Károlyi and his friend Alexandru Stefu, a Romanian rugby coach, Comăneci was able to make a break with Panait and settle in Montreal. She successfully distanced herself from the image problems of her initial arrival from Romania. Comăneci spent most of her time touring and promoting lines of gymnastics apparel and aerobic equipment. She also dabbled in modeling, appearing in advertisements for wedding dresses and Jockey underwear. While she was living in Montreal, former American gymnast Bart Conner, whom she had met for the first time in 1976 at the American Cup, contacted her and invited her to live in Oklahoma. They became engaged in 1994. Together with Conner, she returned to Romania for the first time since her defection (and since the fall of Communism and Ceaușescus death), and the couple were married in Bucharest on April 27, 1996. The ceremony was broadcast live in Romania, and the reception was held in the former presidential palace. On June 29, 2001, Comăneci became a naturalized citizen of the United States. She has also retained her Romanian passport, making her a dual citizen. A TV movie of Comanecis childhood & Olympic fame was made in 1984, aptly titled, Nadia. A stunt double was needed to do they gymnastics to give the movie a sense of realism. Guess who played the part? Yes, Marcia Frederick... How cool was that?!
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 03:35:05 +0000
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