Nadia Comaneci Update

15 years ago I reviewed the autobiography of Nadia Comaneci. You can read it here. That year in November would mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. During that time Comaneci was plotting her escape out of the hell hole that was Communist Romania. Now a new book recently published in English gives full access to what life was really like for Comaneci, her teammates, and the degenerate behavior of the Karolyis.

Since we are in an Olympic year, its fitting that I found out about this book. I am curious about how this book was received in Romania. For those who aren’t aware every Communist country had its own secret police force. The most famous, or infamous were the East German Stasi, and the USSR KGB. In Romania, the regime had the Securitate. Writer Stejarel Olaru has written a book called Nadia Comaneci And The Secret Police: A Cold War Escape.

Olaru had full access to the archives of the Securitate. It was jaw dropping to say the least. Not only does it show the horrors of living under a dictatorship where everyone’s lives were surveilled. But it also highlights the true nature of the Karolyis. After their defection, and their integration into American life, they were put on a pedestal. Their successes with Mary Lou Retton seemed to overshadow who they really were as coaches, and as human beings.

Olaru notes the archives showed the Karolyis were abusive, mean-spirited monsters who had no business being around children let alone elite gymnasts. Comaneci and her teammates were subjected to levels of abuse that would have garnered prison sentences. For example, Comaneci was subjected to hitting, punching, emotional abuse, and starvation. Once incident Bela punched her in the face so hard it induced a bloody nose!! Image at the 1976 Montreal Olympics where Comaneci makes sporting history was deprived of food!!!??? I could not image the entire team was deliberately starved. Looking at YouTube there are tons of videos of the gymnastics competition at the 1976 Olympics. And to think Comaneci did not have a decent meal for days!!! That just shows her athletic genius to pull through despite the abuse she endured.

No one wanted to deal with the Karolyis. All the legitimate coaches routinely reported the bad behavior of these 2 clowns. What really takes the cake is how the Karolyis co-opted the story of how Nadia was “discovered”. Point blank, they DID NOT discover her. She was already in training before anyone in Romania knew who the Karolyis were!

What really struck me was no one contacted the police about the abuse of the gymnasts at the hands of the Karolyis. Granted in a dictatorship there isn’t a rule of law. Plus Comaneci brought a level of prestige to Romania. She brought a lot of money to the regime. Unfortunately she never benefitted from any of that money. She could have made millions in endorsements. But for a cruel twist of fate, she was born in Communist era Romania.

After reading this book it made perfect sense why USA Gymnastics sunk to such a low level with Larry Nassar wantonly raping gymnasts for years. This lies at the foot of Bela and Marta Karolyi. And it also makes sense why Nadia Comaneci kept her distance from USA Gymnastics. Can you imagine what great things Comaneci could have brought to USA Gymnastics??

Maybe she was approached and declined the job. She had just gone through a harrowing journey of defection. She most certainly needed to get her bearings and acclimate herself to a new country and freedom.

The fact that the Karolyis’ were put on a pedestal nauseates me to no end. They were not worthy of the accolades. This should be a lesson to all of us about tolerating the abuse of children. No matter how successful someone is, abuse of athletes should be called out and handled accordingly.

Bookish Babe

Tags: 1976 Olympics, Bela Karolyi, child abuse, Communism, Gymnastics, Marta Karolyi, Nadia Comaneci, Romania, Secuitate, Stejarel Olaru | Posted in Uncategorized