The Place des Vainqueurs in the Olympic Park in Montreal, Canada, has been renamed Place Nadia Comaneci, in honour of the iconic Romanian Olympic gold medallist, one of the world’s best-known gymnasts.

The inauguration ceremony, which took place on 6 October, was attended by Nadia and her husband Bart Conner, Mihai Covaliu, president of the Romanian Olympic and Sporting Committee (COSR), boxer Lucian Bute, members of the Romanian gymnastics male team, and members of the Romanian delegation present at the gymnastics championships hosted by the Canadian city, as well as other personalities.
Nadia Comaneci Square now also sports a portrait of the gymnast, and a plaque in French, English and Romanian that records how at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal she became the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0.
The Olympic Park in Montreal, which hosted the Summer Olympics in 1976 where Nadia won the first 10th grade in the history of artistic gymnastics, honours this “inspiration” and “Nadia Comaneci’s tireless commitment to promoting gymnastics.”

Michel Labrecque, president and CEO of the Olympic Park, said, “Montreal adopted this girl somehow” in 1976, and that “this symbolic place shows the affection of the residents of Montreal for Nadia Comaneci.”

The bronze plate, created in 1986, on which the names of the winners of the 1976 Olympic Games are listed, has been restored. In addition, in the Olympic Park are engraved the names of over 6,200 athletes who competed at the 1976 Olympics.