Comaneci hails Halep for uniting Romanians

LONDON — When Romania’s Simona Halep clambered up into the stands on Philippe Chatrier Court moments after winning her first Grand Slam title at the French Open last month, compatriot Nadia Comaneci was waiting to greet her with a big smile and outstretched arms.

While the hug shared between two of Romania’s most famous sporting icons was witnessed by a global audience of millions who rejoiced in Halep’s victory, Comaneci was among the minority who knew the feelings buzzing through the champion’s head.

After three previous Grand Slam final failures, Halep seemed more relieved than elated in her moment of triumph and covered her face with both hands as she tried to make sense of it all.

“It needs time to sink in. You have this euphoria of winning and you are thinking ‘I can’t believe this is for real’,” said Comaneci, who sent the sporting world into a spin in 1976 when she became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics.

“Then you are questioning yourself — ‘Is it really for real?’. Then you sleep on it and you wake up in the morning and you realize, ‘Oh it wasn’t a dream, the trophy is here in my room. It really happened’,” she added with a laugh.

“In my case, even the next day I did not realize the enormity of what I had achieved. It was only when I arrived back in Romania and there were 10,000 people at the airport and I thought, ‘Wow, this is a big deal’.”