Nadia Comaneci encourages children in District 5 of the Capital to practice sport

Former Olympic Champion Nadia Comaneci met on Saturday in the Sebastian Park with the children from  District 5 of the Capital, encouraging them to practice sport during the 2nd edition of the event called "Nadia Sports Experience - Passport for Sport" organized by her foundation.

The first gymnast in the world to be awarded a perfect score of 10 showed the children some exercises in the sport she excelled, but also urged them to try other sports disciplines such as table tennis, judo, rugby, volleyball, kickboxing, athletics and basketball.

"For these children exercise is very important so that they get introduced in a few sports disciplines. The children have to see what sport means and get fond of one or two disciplines and then continue them. Gymnastics is a basis for any sport and starting with the ages of 3-4, I have noticed that they love to roll, so gymnastics is a basis for everything," Nadia Comaneci said.

The event was attended by several hundred children in primary classes, each receiving a stamp on the "Passport for Sport" for each sports discipline tested. When they gathered at least five stamps, they were rewarded with surprise prizes. The event continues Sunday morning with fun exercise activities for the entire family.

The event is organized by the Nadia Comaneci Foundation, in partnership with the District 5 City Hall, the "Stefan Iordache" Cultural Youth Sports Center and the Steaua Bucharest School Sports Club. The event also enjoys the support of COSR, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation , the Romanian Judo Federation, the Romanian Rugby Federation, CSS1 Bucharest, CS Stirom Bucharest, CS UNEFS Bucharest, CSM Onesti and Kontact K1 Romanian Sports Club.

The project called "Nadia Sports Experience" aims to increase the interest for sport and outdoor activities for children and the entire family, and to familiarise children with different sports disciplines, as well as to identify and select children with sports potential for sports clubs. At the same time, within the "Nadia Sports Experience" project, the Nadia Comaneci Foundation grants scholarships to young athletes. Thus, this year, 50 athletes who prove the registration to a sports club for the 2019-2020 school year will be rewarded with scholarships consisting of sports equipment worth 500 lei each.