Who is Nadia Comenaci?

Born in Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Romania on November 12, 1961, Nadia Comaneci is best remembered as the first gymnast in Olympic history to be awarded a ‘perfect’ 10 score ( The closet I get to a perfect ten is my number coming up when playing best high roller casino ). She did so in the asymmetric, or uneven, bars round of the women’s team competition at the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal, Canada on July 18, 1976. In fact, aged just 14 and weighing in at an ethereal 6st 2lb, Comanceci was awarded a total of seven such scores – four on the asymmetric bars and three on the beam – en route to three gold medals, including in the women’s individual all-around competition, at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Unsurprisingly, her performances created a sensation and her an international gymnastic superstar.

Four years later, at the Summer Olympics in Moscow, in what has been described as a ‘turbulent’ gymnastics competition, Comaneci was awarded two more perfect scores on the way to winning two more gold medals, albeit controversially, in the beam and floor events. Comaneci retired from competition in 1984 and, following in the footsteps of Bela Karolyi and Geza Pozsar, former head coach and choreographer of the Romanian team, defected to the West in 1989. She initially settled in Montreal, Canada, home of online casino canada, but later moved to Norman, Oklahoma, where she met, and later married, fellow Olympic gold medallist Bart Conner. Together, they own and operate the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy and are involved with numerous charities, including the Special Olympics.

How many times did Usain Bolt break the 100-metre world record?

Widely considered the greatest sprinter of all time, over 100 and 200 metres, Jamaican Usain Bolt, who announced his retirement from athletics in August, 2017, requires little introduction. Individually, he won gold medals in both the 100-metre and 200-metre events at three consecutive Olympics – Beijing in 2008, London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016 – and still holds world records at both distances.

On May 3, 2008, at the Jamaica International Invitation in Kingston, Jamaica, Bolt posted a winning time of 9.76 seconds, just 0.02 seconds slower than the existing world record, 9.74 seconds, set by compatriot Asafa Powell in Rieti, Italy the previous September. Four weeks later, at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, USA, on May 31, 2008, Bolt broke the 100-metre world record for the first time, defeating reigning world champion Tyson Gay in a time of 9.72 seconds.

Less than three months later, in the 100-metre final at the Beijing Olympics on August 16, 2008, broke the world record again, winning in a time of 9.69 seconds, despite raising his arms in celebration 20 metres before the line when well ahead. A year to the day later, Bolt faced Tyson Gay again in the 100-metre final at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany, advertised locally as ‘Das Duell’. Tyson clocked 9.71 seconds but, even so, finished nowhere near Bolt, who crossed the line in 9.58 seconds, taking 0.11 seconds off his previous world record.

Why was Michael Johnson so fast?

Retired American sprinter Michael Johnson made history when, in 1996, he became the first male athlete to win both the 200-metre and 400-metre events at the same Olympics. Indeed, in the 200-metre final in Atlanta, Johnson produced a time of 19.32 seconds, improving on his own world record time of 19.66 seconds, which he had set in the US Olympic Trials just over a month earlier, by 0.34 seconds; his record stood for twelve years, until broken by Usain Bolt in 2008. Furthermore, in 1999, despite a season blighted by injury, Johnson won the 400-metre final at the World Athletics Championship in Seville, Spain in a new world record time of 43.18 seconds; that record would stand even longer, until broken by Wayde van Niekerk in 2016.

Johnson was recognisable not only by his specially commissioned, golden-coloured Nike track spikes, but by his unorthodox, upright running style, which attracted widespread criticism in the early days of his career. Conventional wisdom dictates that a high knee lift, which facilitates a powerful downstroke phase, is necessary for maximum speed over 200 or 400 metres. However, despite standing 6 feet tall, Johnson has a atypical vertical body type for a sprinter, with a long torso and short legs. His solution to transferring force into the track or, in other words, to generating speed, was to take short, choppy strides, but increase his stride frequency, or leg turnover. His statuesque, straight-up running style may not have been visually appealing to sprinting ‘purists’, but it was certainly effective. His ground contact time was measured at around 0.006 seconds and scientific studies of his style revealed that it was, in fact, much more efficient than traditional sprinting techniques.

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