Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police
Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police

Author: Stejarel Olaru

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2024-10-03

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1350511501

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2024 Independent Publisher Book Awards Winner – Silver Medal, World History Nadia Comaneci is the Romanian child prodigy and global gymnastics star who ultimately fled her homeland and the brutal oppression of a communist regime. At the age of just 14, Nadia became the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and went on to collect three gold medals in performances which influenced the sport for generations to come, cementing Nadia's place as a sporting legend. However, as the communist authorities in Romania sought an iron grip over its highest-profile athletes, Nadia and her trainers were subjected to surveillance from the Securitate, the Romanian secret police. Drawing on 25,000 secret police archive pages, countless secret service intelligence documents, and numerous wiretap recordings, this book tells the compelling story of Nadia's life and career using unique insights from the communist dictatorship which monitored her. Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police explores Nadia's complex and combustible relationship with her sometimes abusive coaches, Béla and Marta Károlyi, figures who would later become embroiled in the USA Gymnastics scandal. The book addresses Nadia's mental struggles and 1978 suicide attempt, and her remarkable resurgence to gold at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. It explores the impact of Nadia's subsequent withdrawal from international activity and reflects on burning questions surrounding the heart-stopping, border-hopping defection to the United States that she successfully undertook in November 1989. Was the defection organised by CIA agents? Was it arranged on the orders of President George Bush himself? Or was Nadia aided and abetted by some of the very Securitate officers who were meant to be watching the communist world's most lauded sporting icon? What is revealed is a thrilling tale of endurance and escape, in which one of the world's greatest gymnasts risked everything for freedom.

Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police
Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police

Author: Stejarel Olaru

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-04-06

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1350321311

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2024 Independent Publisher Book Awards Winner – Silver Medal, World History Nadia Comaneci is the Romanian child prodigy and global gymnastics star who ultimately fled her homeland and the brutal oppression of a communist regime. At the age of just 14, Nadia became the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and went on to collect three gold medals in performances which influenced the sport for generations to come, cementing Nadia's place as a sporting legend. However, as the communist authorities in Romania sought an iron grip over its highest-profile athletes, Nadia and her trainers were subjected to surveillance from the Securitate, the Romanian secret police. Drawing on 25,000 secret police archive pages, countless secret service intelligence documents, and numerous wiretap recordings, this book tells the compelling story of Nadia's life and career using unique insights from the communist dictatorship which monitored her. Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police explores Nadia's complex and combustible relationship with her sometimes abusive coaches, Béla and Marta Károlyi, figures who would later become embroiled in the USA Gymnastics scandal. The book addresses Nadia's mental struggles and 1978 suicide attempt, and her remarkable resurgence to gold at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. It explores the impact of Nadia's subsequent withdrawal from international activity and reflects on burning questions surrounding the heart-stopping, border-hopping defection to the United States that she successfully undertook in November 1989. Was the defection organised by CIA agents? Was it arranged on the orders of President George Bush himself? Or was Nadia aided and abetted by some of the very Securitate officers who were meant to be watching the communist world's most lauded sporting icon? What is revealed is a thrilling tale of endurance and escape, in which one of the world's greatest gymnasts risked everything for freedom.

Letters to a Young Gymnast
Letters to a Young Gymnast

Author: Nadia Comaneci

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2009-04-28

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 0786728655

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If there were such a thing as an "elder" stateswoman in women's gymnastics today, Nadia Comaneci would win that title as readily as she once won gold medals. Olga Korbut came before her, and many other medalists would follow, but none has ever been as dominant in winning the hearts of millions around the world. With grit and determination, Nadia Comaneci ushered in a new era for women's sports, one where young girls could vault into the arena of superstardom. Even today, almost thirty years after her greatest triumphs, you need only mention the name "Nadia" and gymnastics fans know instantly whom you are talking about. In Letters to a Young Gymnast, Nadia shows what it takes to achieve athletic perfection and become the best. With inspiring and dramatic stories from her own experience, she tells us how the young girl that Bela Karolyi discovered in a Romanian elementary school found the inner strength to become a world-class athlete at such a young age. This collection of Nadia's memories, anecdotes, and advice grants unique insights into the mind of a top competitor. From how to live after you've realized your dream, to the necessity of "a spirit forged with mettle," Nadia's thoughts on athleticism and sacrifice are eye-opening and surprisingly challenging.

Nadia
Nadia

Author: Nadia Comaneci

Publisher: Proteus Publishing Company

Published: 1981-08-01

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9780862761004

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One of the world's greatest gymnasts describes her childhood and training, her quest to become a world class athlete, her stunning victory at the Montreal Olympics, and her private life

Feel No Fear
Feel No Fear

Author: Bela Karolyi

Publisher: Hyperion

Published: 1994-05-31

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9780786860128

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The charismatic coach of gymnastic stars including Nadia Comanec and Mary Lou Retton chronicles his life and career, from troubles with Romanian secret police, through his decision to defect, to his fight for better gymnastics in the United States.

Romanian Crucible
Romanian Crucible

Author: Gheorghe Buzatu

Publisher: Histria Books

Published: 2023-02-21

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 1592112617

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The trial of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, leader of the Legionary Movement in Romania, marked a critical moment in the history of the country between the two World Wars. It destroyed the last vestiges of democracy and laid the groundwork for the establishment of the royal dictatorship by Carol II.Romanian Crucible presents the transcript of the trial, for the first-time in English translation, edited and accompanied by an introductory study by two leading specialists on Romanian history, Gheorghe Buzatu and Kurt W. Treptow. The book also contains a series of appendixes, which include journal entries from Codreanu in prison.

Off Balance
Off Balance

Author: Dominique Moceanu

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-06-12

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1451608675

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In this searing and riveting New York Times bestseller, Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu reveals the dark underbelly of Olympic gymnastics, the true price of success…and the shocking secret about her past and her family that she only learned years later. At fourteen years old, Dominique Moceanu was the youngest member of the 1996 US Women’s Olympic Gymnastics team, the first and only American women’s team to take gold at the Olympics. Her pixyish appearance and ferocious competitive drive quickly earned her the status of media darling. But behind the fame, the flawless floor routines, and the million-dollar smile, her life was a series of challenges and hardships. Off Balance vividly delineates each of the dominating characters who contributed to Moceanu’s rise to the top, from her stubborn father and long-suffering mother to her mercurial coach, Bela Karolyi. Here, Moceanu finally shares the haunting stories of competition, her years of hiding injuries and pain out of fear of retribution from her coaches, and how she hit rock bottom after a public battle with her parents. But medals, murder plots, drugs, and daring escapes aside (all of which figure into Moceanu’s incredible journey), the most unique aspect of her life is the family secret that Moceanu discovers, opening a new and unexpected chapter in her adult life. A mysterious letter from a stranger reveals that she has a second sister—born with a physical disability and given away at birth—who has nonetheless followed in Moceanu’s footsteps in an astonishing way. A multilayered memoir that transcends the world of sports, Off Balance will touch anyone who has ever dared to dream of a better life.

Rîmaru
Rîmaru

Author: Mike Phillips

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 9780956867636

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In September 1971 Ion Rimaru stood trial for the murder of several women, accused of 23 very serious offences over a period of one year from May 1970: murders committed in extremely aggravated circumstances, with cruelty, premeditation, bestiality and sadism in four cases; attempted murders in six cases; rapes and attempted rapes; theft.

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

Author: Joan Ryan

Publisher: Doubleday

Published: 2013-04-03

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 0307828557

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A sports reporter investigates the training of girls as professional gymnasts and figure skaters, arguing that the pressure to succeed and to look beautiful results in mental and physical harm, from eating disorders to psychological trauma.

Nile Wilson
Nile Wilson

Author: Nile Wilson

Publisher: White Owl

Published: 2022-03-10

Total Pages: 147

ISBN-13: 1526772027

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The down-to-earth Olympic medalist tells the story of the pressures and mental health struggles behind his successful gymnastic career. Nile Wilson is known to many as the gymnast who won a bronze medal for Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and England’s most successful gymnast ever at a Commonwealth Games following his five medals in 2018. Yet, Nile is so much more than just an athlete. A YouTuber with over a million subscribers, a social media influencer, a successful businessman and entrepreneur, Nile is also an advocate for mental health awareness, and has been very open about his own personal struggles. In this book, Nile gives an unprecedented look into his true battle to be fit and ready for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics—throughout the Games and the aftermath. The public perception of Nile Wilson is focused on his humor, openness, and how down-to-earth he is. This book reveals the struggles behind the smiles, from the brutal reality of performing at an elite sporting level, to the mental health battles Nile has had to fight—and continues to fight—every day.