Gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci slams Olympics judges for ‘playing with athlete's mental health’

Nadia Comaneci is regarded as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time and was awarded the first perfect 10 in gymnastics history at the 1976 Summer Games

Romania's Ana Barbosu almost won her first Olympic medal, but a controversial score change dropped her to fourth place. During Monday's floor exercise, she initially secured the third spot with a score of 13.700. However, due to a last-minute inquiry, the 18-year-old newcomer lost her bronze to American gymnast Jordan Chiles. As the incident left her in tears, gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci slammed the judges for toying with Barbosu's emotions.

Romanian former gymnast Nadia Comaneci (C) attends the artistic gymnastics women's team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)(AFP)

Nadia Comaneci speaks out in favour of fellow Romanian Ana Barbosu

The 62-year-old veteran gymnast criticised the judges at the 2024 Paris Olympics for the controversial score change. “I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them #anabarbosu,” Comaneci wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

During her Olympic career, Comaneci won five gold medals before retiring in 1984. She is regarded as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time and was awarded the first perfect 10 in gymnastics history at the 1976 Summer Games.

How did Barbosu lose her medal to Chiles?

As Chiles was the final athlete to compete, Barbosu began celebrating Romania's victory as her American opponent initially scored 13.666, which was lower than her 13.700. However, just moments later, it was announced that Chiles' score was bumped up by 0.1, which placed her in third place.

The moment the scoreboard reflected the revised scores, Barbosu broke down in tears before leaving the venue with a devastated look on her face. Team USA coach Cecile Landi said of the inquiry, “At this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like 'We’re just going to try,'” “I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like ‘What?’” she added.