Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police

If you don’t know who Nadia Comaneci is, you’re probably very young and I obviously envy you for that. Nadia is the most famous Romanian, internationally popular for having been the first ever gymnast to get a perfect 10 for her routine in the Olympics in 1976. She was 14 at the time.

The recently launched “Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police” by Stejarel Olaru (translation by Alistair Blyth) deals with a lesser-known part of her life in Romania, under Ceausescu’s dictatorship.

It’s a detailed, journalistic approach to everything: her coaches, her parents, the Secret Police, other gymnasts, her travels, her life after retiring from competitions – everything!

Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police: Book Review

The book saddened me a lot. It reminded me of the abuse Romanians suffered under Communist rule, but, more than that, it made me think about the sacrifices one has to make in order to succeed.

The abuse gymnasts suffered from the part of their trainers, Bela and Martha Karolyi, is just an insignificant part of it all. Their training methods would be considered inhumane today, yet they were perpetuated even in the US, where they defected during one of their trips abroad.

“Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police” starts with a gripping tale of Nadia’s escape from Communist Romania. Some of the details remain suppositions, but the author did his best to uncover everything about it. The shock of it to the regime, their bewilderment as to the cause of it is still amazing to me.

After all, unlike everyone else, Nadia and her family never suffered from hunger, never endured the long lines to get groceries, and had housing and “great” jobs. What else did she want? What else could she have been missing?

The fact that she chose to run away and, even more than that, she chose to settle in the U.S., the Communists’ enemy during the Cold War, was a grave sin.

Luckily, the regime soon had bigger problems to worry about – the 1989 Revolution was upon them. However, Nadia’s leaving was a severe image blow for them that year.

It is staggering how Nadia, as well as the entire sporting team in Onesti, was monitored by the secret police. There are thousands of pages of reports concerning absolutely everything that went on.

The fact that the authorities knew about the way the trainers acted around the young girls and didn’t do anything about it is amazing to me now, yet I completely understand it. It was part of the education at the time, part of how everyone acted. Beating a child wasn’t a big deal.

Of course, it is understandable how Nadia revolted as a teenager and young woman — no longer obedient to her trainers. Her constant surveillance and inability to have normal outings with friends seem to be the root of her “accidental” drinking bleach incident.

This, along with other problems such as weight gain, fights with her trainers, elopements from training centres as well as lack of money are all discussed in this fascinating book.

However, if you want a different approach, a more personal biography, I advise you to also check out Nadia Comaneci’s memoir, “Letters to a Young Gymnast”. The differences in what she chose to share and what went on (from historical, documented sources) are so, so interesting!

Onesti gymnastics started as an experiment. Young girls were formed as gymnasts from the age of 5 or 6. The discipline they underwent was incredible. The politics of it all was masterfully navigated by the Karolyis, as it is shown by their dealings with the Secret Police.

The pressure on the entire team was great at the time. Nicolae Ceausescu himself became very interested in gymnastics after Nadia gained her perfect 10. Not actually understanding the rules and subtleties of international competitions, his interventions were problematic.

In one instance he actually recalled the entire national team home, offended that the judges decided to demote Nadia to second place for an exercise. Nadia herself was disappointed: she had prepared for months for the competition and had to go home before she could compete in all the categories she intended. However, there was no debating a dictator’s whims.

Conclusion

If you are passionate about gymnastics or the Eastern bloc during the Cold War, “Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police” is the perfect read for you!

You can find it here: