In the 1970s, 17-year-old Olga Korbut of Belarus and 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci of Romania captivated audiences with gymnastic feats, launching the era of “pixie” gymnasts. In later years, both of these highly-accomplished gymnasts:
A) Settled in North America ü B) Married ballet dancers C) Became school teachers D) Suffered crippling arthritis
After Belarus was devastated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Korbut came to the USA with her family. After a difficult initial period, she settled down as a gymnastics coach in Scottsdale, Arizona. Comaneci defected from Romania in 1989, finding her way eventually to Canada. She later married Bart Connor, an American gymnast whom she had met as a teenager. With her husband she embarked on a new career running a gym in Oklahoma. The minimum age for Olympic competition is now 16.
