Quotes from Nadia Comaneci

I know how to smile, I know how to laugh, I know how to play. But I know how to do these things only after I have fulfilled my mission.

We used to exchange leotards with gymnasts from other countries. I don't remember who I got my most prized leotard from, but it was one with a lot of stars on it.

I know my life story sounds too extraordinary to be true.

I ended up in the US for a month or so, before moving to Montreal with some Romanian friends.

One of the most difficult times in my life was when I escaped from Romania in November of 1989.

As an Olympic champion gymnast, I have always stayed involved in my sport.

for some people life outside the spotlight is death.

Gymnastics should be popular everywhere; you just need the right person to start the right programme.

My marriage to my husband, Bart Conner in 1996 is my proudest personal moment.

When you go out of your country and meet people, you get a wider perspective.

I like Oklahoma. It's a quiet place. You can work, and nobody disturbs you.

I'm very good friends with my former coaches. We speak on the phone a lot.

I think a lot of people don't actually know me. They think, 'She's like this,' or, 'She's like that.' They say I have no emotions - I do, but you couldn't see them then. I had to keep them inside.

I worked hard in gymnastics since the time I was six years old until I retired at 23 years of age.

It was good to be a kid because I did not realise all the things that came with the success. Going to the Games, I was asked what I expected to do.

Maybe that's why I like gymnastics - because I like to fly.

At 14, you think you compete, you retire and you get a job. I didn't think gymnastics was a career that was going to change my life.

It was my mother who got me involved in gymnastics, sending me to classes when I was six just to stop me doing back flips on the couch and destroying the furniture.

At the end of the day, I just want to see good gymnastics!

I think gymnastics was associated with the 10. I thought that belonged to the sport, and somehow we gave it way.

I come from a wonderful country with wonderful people.

I tell people, 'Have you ever been to Oklahoma? There are a lot of nice people there that do wonderful things.'

If I was a boy, nobody would care that I worked out six, seven hours a day when I was 9 years old, no? Why were people always saying 'poor little girl?' I liked to work out and always did more than I was asked to.

I work out every day, but my idea is to make something short. I work out a maximum half hour. I only do like 20 minutes of cardio, and I do some stretching and some light weights, and I'm out of there.