Journey that started in '76 finds Comaneci and Conner in Oklahoma

By NANCY ARMOUR
.c The Associated Press

NORMAN, Oklahoma (AP) - Tucked in a cabinet in a velvet maroon box, the bright blue Tiffany's pouch gives only a hint of the glorious treasures inside.

The bag is surprisingly heavy, filled with the weight of dreams, memories and magic from another lifetime. Open it up, and out tumble Nadia Comaneci's nine Olympic medals - five of them gold - awarded for greatness and perfection that transcended sport.

Their modesty is stunning. There are no protective cases. The ribbons are long gone. Some of the medals are missing the eyelet for the ribbon.

Asked why there is no grand showcase for this haul, Comaneci shrugs and says, ``Why? I know I won them.''

It's been almost 30 years since she captivated the world in Montreal while competing for Romania, earning the first perfect 10 in Olympic history and then duplicating the feat six times. But people remain as enchanted by her now as they were by that dark-haired pixie in 1976.

She gets more than a hundred letters a week, and people flock to her when she makes public appearances. She's asked to autograph everything from pictures of her in 1976 to books to trading cards to a light switch plate featuring a drawing of her. She's in demand all over the world for endorsements and charity work, and she and husband Bart Conner will go to Athens as guests of International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

Yet for all the trappings of celebrity, Comaneci and Conner, a double gold medalist at the 1984 Olympics, lead a surprisingly conventional life.

Though they spend large chunks of time on the road for work - especially in an Olympic year - and have a house in Los Angeles, their home base remains here, where Conner moved in 1976 to attend the University of Oklahoma.

People in Norman are so used to the couple that they rarely draw second looks. She drops off her own dry cleaning, goes to the grocery store and works out at a gym like anyone else. He can go to area gymnastics meets and sit in the crowd like any other spectator.

As a couple, they are a wonder to behold. The 46-year-old Conner seems ageless, looking almost exactly as he did when he was competing. Comaneci, 43 in November, looks so fit she could probably whip off a flawless performance on that balance beam if she had to.

In Norman, though, they're just folks.

When they went to dinner at a restaurant recently, no one approached them or even gawked. Think Bruce Jenner or Michael Johnson can pull off that low-key of an existence?

``Especially Nadia, you think she's got to live in Paris or Montreal or New York,'' Conner said with a laugh. ``But it's easy to function here. There's a lot of advantages. I can walk down to the bank. ... And people are so nice here. It's just a comfortable place to be.''

Comaneci added, ``It's very normal. I can do the grocery shopping. I cook at home at night. It's very easy, and people are very nice here.''

Just 14 in 1976 and sheltered by Romania's Communist system, Comaneci had no idea of the impact she made in Montreal. She was on the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated in the same week.

A song that served as the background music for a black-and-white montage of her performances became so popular it won a Grammy, and it was quickly nicknamed ``Nadia's Theme.'' Little girls in the United States begged their parents for gymnastics lessons, and thousands turned out to greet Comaneci and her teammates when they returned to Romania.

Comaneci won two more gold medals at the Moscow Olympics before retiring in 1981. Though many assumed she led a life of privilege as a hero of the state, she had little money and Romanian authorities kept close tabs on her. After coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi defected in 1981, Comaneci was monitored even more closely and her travel was restricted.

She defected in 1989, leaving behind her parents and younger brother - and those medals. After discovering she'd left, her brother yanked the medals off the wall of the family's house and hid them so the state wouldn't take them. A journalist brought them to her two years later.

``They defected with me,'' Comaneci said.

Comaneci moved first to Montreal. She soon became reacquianted with Conner, whom she met in 1976. She moved to Oklahoma in 1991 and they were married five years later. Teasing and affectionate, they are perfectly suited for one another.

When he and Comaneci were co-master of ceremonies at the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards earlier this month, he put nervous fans at ease immediately, offering his hand and saying, ``Hi, I'm Bart Conner. And this is my wife, Nadia.''

Comaneci is a little more reserved but always gracious, happy to sign autographs and pose for pictures. She has a sharp sense of humor, and she dotes on those closest to her. When she's at home, business partner Paul Ziert knows he can look forward to her homemade gingerbread in the office each morning.

``They're so comfortable and so themselves,'' said Linda Bradshaw, chair of this year's Iba Awards. ``They don't fit the star mold. They are stars, but they're very down to earth and touchable.''

Comaneci and Conner spend much of their time doing promotional work for corporate sponsors and working with charities. They're heavily involved with the Special Olympics - both are on the national board of directors - and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Comaneci is active with the Laureus World Sports Academy, a group that uses sports as a tool for social change throughout the world, and Conner also does broadcasting work. The couple will do commentary for the Mexican television network Televisa at the Athens Olympics.

They'll also be at this week's Olympic gymnastics trials for a reunion of Conner's 1984 team, which won gold at the Los Angeles Games.

The couple is, of course, still involved in gymnastics.

Conner and Ziert, his coach at Oklahoma, opened the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy after Conner retired, and it now has 1,100 students. The gym was filled with kids on a recent day: munchkins wobbling across the balance beam; little girls prancing across the floor; teenage boys doing calisthenics on a low set of parallel bars.

There are some elite athletes, but the main focus is on recreational gymnastics.

``We promote it as an all-sports preparation program,'' Conner said. ``If they do one or two years of gymnastics, they'll be better soccer players, better softball players, better basketball players.

``There's a lot of reasons to do gymnastics, and the Olympics are not the most important,'' he added. ``We want to make sure kids get a taste of gymnastics for the fitness and the fun of it.''

And the gym was just the first part of the empire. Over the years, they have acquired companies that cover just about every aspect of gymnastics. They make leotards, hand grips and gymnastics shoes. They have a silk-screening business that makes T-shirts and shorts.

They also own International Gymnast, a magazine that is the main source of information on the sport, and a Web site.

``I owe so much to Paul,'' Conner said. ``It's amazing to be around a guy who has bigger plans for you than you have for yourself. I think everybody needs that.''

Even an Olympic legend.

``I never thought when I was competing, `Oh, I would hope one day that I'm going to grow up in America and have all these things.' It never, ever crossed by mind,'' Comaneci said. ``Everything is a bonus to me. It's something I didn't expect to have.''