The 'Europe Cup', which was awarded to Nadia Comaneci in 1979, after she won the European Championships three times, in 1975, 1977 and 1979, medals, such as the famous communist distinction 'Sickle and Hammer', awarded after winning the title of 'Hero of Socialist Labor', photographs and documents, some from the the National Council for the Study of Securitate (CNSAS) archive, belonging to the former Securitate, are among the objects brought together in the exhibition 'Nadia Comaneci - The Road to Perfection', opened on Thursday evening at the headquarters of the National Archives of Romania.
Mounted on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the historic moment in which the famous gymnast won the first 10 in the history of Olympic gymnastics, the exhibition, opened in the central hall of the institution, brings together photographs, documents and heritage objects that illustrate Nadia Comaneci's exceptional career and the significance of a performance that went beyond the framework of sports competition, becoming part of the cultural heritage and collective memory as a landmark of Romanian excellence and performance.
In a video message sent for the event, Nadia Comaneci stated that the organization of the exhibition represents a gesture that 'honors' and 'deeply moves' her.
'The year 1976 and everything that followed were not just about me, or about a perfect sport, but were about work, passion and about an entire country that vibrated with me. Looking at these photographs and archival documents preserved with such care by the extraordinary partners of this project, I realize that those memories, with their good and less good parts, do not belong only to the past, but belong to all of us. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the National Archives of Romania for this historical initiative, as well as to all the institutions that have joined forces to show the public these pages of the story. I invite all Romanians, from the youngest to the oldest, to step into this exhibition open throughout the year. I wish that the younger generations, who will cross the threshold of these National Archives, will find here a journey through time, written pages from our history,' the famous former gymnast said.
The Director General of the National Archives of Romania, Cristian Anita PhD, said that the exhibition was designed to look like 'that perfect 10' won for the first time by Nadia Comaneci at the Montreal Olympics.
'I hope you like this exhibition. We say it's an extraordinary exhibition, because it tried to bring something of Nadia's spirit here. We will, of course, post the things on social media, so that you can enjoy them in peace, including Nadia's speech, which is extraordinary, you will be able to hear it. At the same time, I want to say that this exhibition concept was designed to show that that perfect 10, that is, that 1 from the moment of 1976,' said Anita.
The curator of the exhibition, Mihaiela Grigorescu, told AGERPRES that the exhibition 'brings to the forefront Nadia's sporting evolution.'
'We tried to capture moments from her evolution, starting from the family, because that's where our roots are, and the family influenced Nadia. You know that she says, at one point, that she thanks her mother for taking her to the gym, because her life has changed completely since then. We start with the beginnings, with the training, with the first competitions, with the first championships. In fact, in this exhibition I want to challenge the visitors and I want them to experience the emotion that I experienced in my childhood watching Nadia's recordings and competitions. I am from the generation when I imagined being Nadia Comaneci while playing. (...) This is exactly where my desire to create this exhibition started, because it reminded me of my childhood and I wanted to experience the emotion of that time and to convey it to those who want to come to our exhibition and perhaps to the young people as well. (...) That was the emotion I experienced and I hope that everyone who comes will experience emotions related to what moment they want from Nadia's evolution', confessed the curator.
The Director General of the National News Agency AGERPRES, Claudia Nicolae, highlighted the importance of presenting photographs from the institution's archive in such exhibitions.
'AGERPRES is a media institution, it has a collective memory, I could say. We have four and a half million photographs, information, but without such partners, who would bring these images to you, there would remain some metal drawers there. And, in the end, the value is the viewer's. In this exhibition we have 30 photographs. We tried to bring photographs from competitions, as well as photographs from personal life. Thus, we will see Nadia at school, we will see Nadia at home, with her family. Because behind the person Nadia, the successful woman, who brought so much joy to the souls of Romanians, there is a person who has a life and a history like ours', said Claudia Nicolae.
At the opening, architect Alexandra Maria Sas Phd, the designer and graphic designer of the exhibition, spoke about the exhibition, as well as representatives of the institutional partners: the National Agency for Sports, the National Film Archive, the 'Radu Rosetti' Municipal Library in Onesti, the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives, the Romanian Television Corporation, the Diplomatic Archives Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The exhibition, with free access, can be visited until November 12, from Monday to Friday, between 9:00 and 16:00, with the last entry time being 15:30.
The National News Agency AGERPRES is among the institutional partners of the event. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Popescu; EN - writing by: Bogdan Gabaroi)
- Category: English
- Date: 2026-07-16 23:16:34
- Foto: Angelo Brezoianu / AGERPRES Photo
