Romania legend's homecoming inspires hope

Dreaming of another Comaneci

The town of 34,000 inhabitants used to have a very successful club, which was founded during Comaneci's time and delivered winning results up until the 2000s.

Then there was a decline, as funding decreased and coaches emigrated to western Europe, the United States or Australia.

Gymnastics stars such as Comaneci have brought Romania 73 Olympic medals.

The last of its three team gold medals dates back to 2004.

"We need to improve our coaches, we need to support our athletes, and we need better training facilities," the club's director, Ingrid Istrate, told reporters.

"And, through the renovation of the club's complex, we will be able to provide all these conditions."

It could take some years — in one of the European Union's poorest countries where sporting facilities have long been underfunded and with a population of just 19 million people — but it might even lead to the discovery of a new Comaneci, she added.

"We're all dreaming of this."

The former gymnast has maintained strong ties with her home country.

After leaving Romania for the United States in 1989, she married American gymnast Bart Conner, with whom she works to promote gymnastics.

Istrate said Comaneci didn't just offer the club financial support, "she always opened a door, made a phone call and supported Onesti".

Conner accompanied her on the visit to her hometown.

Outside her old apartment building, Comaneci signed an autograph on a bench, adding a heart and the words: "I love you all".

"Onesti has a lot to offer, and we promise we'll be back," Comaneci later told a crowd of hundreds from a stage where she was feted with songs and dancing.

Festivities welcoming her return on May 31 included reuniting with her Montreal team and inaugurating a 15-minute trail called "The Path to Perfection", retracing the steps Comaneci took as a child from her apartment to the gym.