Nadia Comaneci has an impressive resume. A nine-time Olympic medal winner, the Romanian athlete may be best remembered as the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 in an Olympics event. On June 2009, 2001, Nadia became a naturalized citizen of the United States while retaining her Romania.
Recently, the Carnegie Corporation of New York named Nadia among its 2016 Great Immigrants Honorees. Nadia shared her thoughts on the award with Oprah: Where Are They Now? "I'm really honored to receive this Carnegie Foundation Award, and I'd just like to celebrate it with all of the other impressive immigrants," Nadia says. "It's very special to receive such an award because I'm happy to say I call home in two places. I am a U.S. citizen and Romanian citizen."
"When I go back to Romania—which is very often—I say I go home, and when I come back to Oklahoma, I say I go home," Nadia continues. "I think very few people can say that, having families in two great places, and I think I'm more emotional now when I get those awards just probably because I am an adult and I understand that a lot more than I did when I was a child. Well, this is the first award that I received as an immigrant in the United States, and I like firsts."
Tune in Sunday, July 24, at 10/9c for the Oprah: Where Are They Now? special “Olympic Legends.”
Published 07/14/2016