The Road of Mastery - by Jeff Leopando

The 1976 Montreal Olympics is forever remembered for an iconic moment: when the first perfect “10.00” was awarded in gymnastics. Before Nadia Comăneci, perfection in the sport of gymnastics was presumed to be unattainable. The scoreboard for the Olympic competition was designed to hold only three-digit scores, at maximum a “9.99.” After Nadia finished her routine, confusion rippled through the crowd as the scoreboard displayed a “1.00.” Then, gasps and stunned applause as they realized what had just happened. Nadia went on to earn six more perfect “10s” en route to five Olympic medals in Montreal, three of them gold. So what made her special? If you have never seen footage of her routine, you can find it here. Certainly the steely, faultless quality of her gymnastics hinted at something sublime and superhuman. But she was human, flesh and bone. And just a 14-year old girl at that. She reached the Olympics the same way other athletes did. By spending weeks and months in the gym perfecti

saved by

• Isamar Vega