Gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci receives warm welcome at Real Madrid as she dons Jersey Number 1 of the Spanish soccer club

Former Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci received a warm welcome from the popular Spanish football club Real Madrid, as well as a customized No. 1 jersey with 'Comaneci' printed on the back. Despite retiring from professional gymnastics in 1984, she keeps herself occupied with various sports engagements.

Comaneci was the first gymnast to attain a perfect score at the Olympics at just 14. The 1976 Montreal Olympics was her most successful stint, which earned her six perfect 10s, three gold medals in the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam, silver in the team event, and bronze in the floor routine. The Oklahoma resident continued her strong form at the 1980 Olympic Games, clinching gold in the floor exercise and balance beam, and silver in the team and all-around.

Since her retirement from gymnastics in 1984, Comaneci has actively involved herself in the sport. She is a member of the International Gymnastics Federation Foundation and serves as the honorary president of the Romanian Olympic Committee. In an X post on October 18, however, the 62-year-old shifted her focus to football and visited Real Madrid on a tour of the Spanish club's stadium.

She was seen wearing a No. 1 Real Madrid jersey, a nod to her status in gymnastics history. She also showed off her name printed on the back of the t-shirt.

"Thank you for the welcome #realmadrid," the caption read.

In another X post, a fan claimed that Comaneci was supposed to wear the No. 10 jersey, owing to the historic perfect 10s she received at the Olympics.

Comaneci's success at the 1976 Games was so significant that a Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin Jr.-composed musical score, originally called 'Cotton's Dream' was renamed as 'Nadia's Theme' after Wide World of Sports (ABC) made a video montage of Comaneci's routines from the 1976 Games with the song.

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Nadia Comaneci shared she still can't believe the 14-year-old gymnast was her

Nadia Comaneci in attendance at the 2024 Laureus World Sport Awards Madrid - Source: Getty

Nadia Comaneci etched her name as a trailblazer in gymnastics with her performance in Montreal. The Comaneci salto on the uneven bars – a kip to straddled front salto re-grab, continues to hold the difficulty score of 'E'.

Reflecting on her success and the six perfect scores she received, Comaneci said in March 2024:

"Even now, I’m looking back – it’s almost a half century ago – and I’m thinking that the 14-year-old [version of me], the courage, the craziness and determination, I look at that 14-year-old like it’s not me," she said. (via Olympics.com)

Comaneci also hailed Simone Biles as the athlete of the generation and appreciated her gesture of supporting young girls in sports.