Quotes from Nadia Comaneci

I like risky stuff.

I wasn't allowed to leave Romania. That made me mad. You just want your freedom. You want your space. You want opportunity.

I remember everything from 1976. I remember I was 14, and I remember my routines.

If I was 14 or 15 again, I would do the same thing. I've done everything. I think I've accomplished more than I had in mind.

I live in the moment. I can turn the page and move on.

In Montreal, I kept thinking, 'Pay attention: this is the Olympics! It only happens once every four years!'

People ask me what the definition of perfection, I said it's none: there is no definition of perfection.

Yes, gymnasts aim for perfection, but I never thought about the score. If that's what's in your mind, it will probably mess you up.

I was a perfectionist in gymnastics.

We developed a system in Romania that was very successfully continued for a number of years, but I don't know if it was because of some conflict in the organisation or whether there was government interference... but somehow, they have forgotten the importance of raising gymnasts to be ready for every Olympics.

Ceausescu thought I had only a few medals, but I have a room full of them in Bucharest, between 150-200 in all. They needed suitcases to haul them out.

I wanted to have a free life.

I thought I was going to retire at 20, and I was going to be a surgeon.

My mother never watched me train in Romania. She wasn't allowed, it just wasn't done back then. My training was paid for by the government. My parents were not at the Olympics with me, either. I never expected them to be.

I think that when you are on a four-inch balance beam, you don't care about laughing or smiling or waving to the crowd because you're going to be down in a second.

People always accused me of not smiling like my rival Olga Korbut, but that was just my personality. When you're balancing on a nine-inch beam, you have to concentrate. But if you look back at the footage, I was always smiling and waving at the crowd after my performances.

I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.

I didn't know I wanted to be a gymnast; I was just introduced to the gym. I loved the place because it looked like a hi-tech playground with mats and a lot of things I can hang from.

After retiring from competition in 1981, I did exhibitions and coached.

I come from a communist country. We learned nothing of lawyers, nothing about rights.

You should also appreciate the goodness around you, and surround yourself with positive people.

People think you have pressure when you are young. It's the other way round, actually.

In the '80 Olympics... people expected me to win. I was good enough to win, and I made a mistake and ended up second, which is pretty good, too.

I would love to be in 'Dancing With the Stars.'