Nadia Comaneci, the first person in Olympic history to get a perfect score in gymnastics, will be in Kaohsiung today for a series of demonstrations and seminars.
Her appearances will be calculated to promote the 11th annual China Motors International Gymnastics Cup that will start on Dec. 12.
Comaneci made history at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal when she received the world's first perfect `10' and managed to creep into the hearts of many enemies of her part of the world -- the now disbanded Eastern Bloc.
During her visit to Kaohsiung she will also take time out to coach local gymnasts and trainers, helping them to prepare the national team for the 2004 Olympics.
Comaneci, nicknamed the Rumanian Genie, is the idol of countless gymnastic fans.
With her seven perfect scores of 10.0 at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, she made a record that is impossible to surpass. At that time, Olympic scoreboards were not designed with a space for double digits, which meant the judges' scores were all shown as 1.0.
With another outstanding display four years later at the Moscow Olympics of 1980, Comaneci won four more medals, 2 gold and 2 silver, bringing her total of Olympic medals to nine.
Since then, Ms. Comaneci has never spared any effort in the popularization of gymnastics.
Over recent years she has traveled the world as an ambassador of her sport, bringing ever more people to appreciate gymnastics and helping them gain a better understanding of the sport.
When she retired officially from the gymnastics world in 1984, President of the Olympic Association Juan Antonio Sammaranch, awarded her with the famous Olympic Order, probably the highest honor of the sporting world.
Tickets for the China Motors International Gymnastics Cup beginning on December 12th are available now.
Gymnastics fans wishing to attend can obtain tickets free of charge by calling the islandwide toll-free number 0800-333-230.
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