Table of Contents

List of illustrations List of abbreviations Explanatory note from the author Acknowledgements 1. Salto in the dark 2. The great dance 3. Reflected in the mirror of power: From Béla, Géza and Nadia to ‘Katona’, ‘Nelu’ and ‘Corina’ 4. ‘Tu sei migliora di tutte’ 5. The rocky road to supremacy 6. The nineteen-eighties 7. A movie ending Notes Index

Promotional Information

A gripping account of the life and career of Nadia Comaneci, which draws for the first time on the surveillance archive of the Romanian secret police who monitored her.

About the Author

Stejarel Olaru is a Romanian historian, writer, researcher, and former radio and TV broadcaster. He was National Security Advisor for the Romanian Prime Minister (2006-2008), a Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2013-2014) and General Director of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania (2005-2010). He has published several books on the modern history of Romania and the history of the Romanian intelligence services. Alistair Ian Blyth is a Translator with more than 15 years' experience of translating from Romanian into his native English. His many translations from Romanian include: Little Fingers by Filip Florian; Our Circus Presents by Lucian Dan Teodorovici; Occurrence in the Immediate Unreality by Max Blecher; Coming from an Off-Key Time by Bogdan Suceava; and Life Begins on Friday by Ioana Parvulescu. In 2019, he was the recipient of a Modern Languages Association of America award for his work.

Reviews

As an insight into the tensions between Comaneci, her coaches and the Communist regime, as well as tensions between Romanian and Soviet gymnastics … Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police is captivating.
*Times Literary Supplement*

Stejarel Olaru illustrates the extent to which the Ceaucescu regime would go to secure Olympic success: it created a massive system of surveillance and an extensive network of informers and agents to control a group of young gymnasts and their ambitious, irascible coaching couple, Bela and Marta Karolyi. Olaru provides important insight into the machinations of Romania’s Securitate and how national prestige triumphed over protecting teenage protégés from physical, emotional, and verbal abuse.
*Victoria Harms, Assistant Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University, USA*

A compelling examination of the public and private personae of Nadia that assesses the price of fame under a dictatorship. At the same time, Olaru's study exposes the intrusion of the state into the lives of citizens in Ceausescu's Romania.
*Dennis Deletant, Emeritus Professor of Romanian Studies, The School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College, London*

Starting from the extraordinary story of Nadia Comaneci, the book analyzes the unseen side of the sports performances of female artistic gymnastics and the relationship between sports and politics during the communist regime in Romania. Coaches, athletes, officials, and political decision-makers were caught in a network of complicated relationships that are revealed by the author through the secret police archive.
*Simona Petracovschi, Professor at Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, West University of Timisoara, Romania*

Thoroughly researched.
*OUTinPerth*

Fascinating and absorbing.
*Theresa Smith Writes*