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Every generation needs a talent that inspires them to overcome their limits. For current generations, that talent is gymnast Simone Biles. That's what Nadia Comaneci, the Olympic gymnastics legend who inspired an entire generation of girls and young women, said.
Biles has conquered everything there is to conquer in gymnastics: four Olympic gold medals, 23 world titles, two Pacific Rim championships, plus another truckload of medals and recognitions that fill her display cases.
However, the path of the Columbus, Ohio native has not been easy. We might now be talking about a few more Olympic medals if it had not been for the fact that she had to temporarily retire from Tokyo 2020, due to a case of the so-called "twisties."
The road back was not easy. However, four years later, Biles is on the threshold of breaking Comaneci's record of five Olympic golds. On that regard, Comaneci itted, "Everybody is there to watch her compete."
Nadia's iration for Simone
Comaneci, 62, won the hearts of the public at the Olympic Games in Montreal 76 and Moscow 80. Biles' performances at Rio de Janeiro 2016, Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024 are raising the standard of gymnastics for future generations, Comaneci said.
"This is what she's doing now for this generation. She's someone so high that everyone is looking at her and saying, 'Yeah, I'm going to try and do that in my own way,'" Nadia told People magazine.
On how Simone returned to competition after the unfortunate episode she experienced three years ago, Comaneci explained, "She is given this opportunity to understand who you are and to break barriers and inspire the new generation."
"Every generation needs someone to inspire them, and she is one of them," Comaneci said.
Comaneci's journey
The former Olympic champion doesn't take her long career too seriously, but she does fondly how she burst onto the world sports scene. "The first one [1976] is the one I broke barriers at 14 years old, at a time when there weren't too many sports for women."
"I was the youngest and the first," Nadia recalls. "Now, we talk about equality; women can do any sports guys can. But many years ago they were like, 'Girls can't do that.' And through my gymnastics, I said, 'Yeah, they can!'"
Comaneci's career has been filled with many satisfactions, most recently serving as an Olympic torchbearer in Paris. The former gymnast was aboard the speedboat that carried the torch ashore along with Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, and Carl Lewis.
In a sense, the gymnastics torch has ed from Comaneci's hands to Biles'. The American has proven herself a worthy torchbearer, and only time will tell who will be next to carry it to a new generation.