Former gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who on July 18, 1976, became the first athlete to score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games, remains the Romanians’ favorite sports star of all time even 40 years after her amazing performance.

A recent survey conducted by social research company IRES shows Nadia Comaneci is seen as the greatest local athlete ever by 30% of the respondents, followed by footballer Gheorghe Hagi (26%), former tennis player Ilie Nastase (6%), tennis star Simona Halep (6%), and sprint canoeist Ivan Patzaichin, late football player Nicolae Dobrin, and former tennis player Ion Tiriac (3% each).

When it comes to what local athlete Romanians admire the most, football player Gheorghe Hagi ranks first with a share of 32% of the answers, followed by Nadia Comaneci (16%), Simona Halep (14%), Ilie Nastase (7%), and Ion Tiriac (3%).

The foreign sports stars Romanians admire the most are footballers Lionel Messi (23% of the answers), Cristiano Ronaldo (20%), Pele (4%), Diego Maradona (4%), and tennis players Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Maria Sharapova (3% each).

Nine in ten Romanians heard about the Olympic Games organized in Rio this summer, the survey also shows. More than half of them (53%) also said that they watched the competitions broadcast from the Olympics. Their favorite Romanian athlete was gymnast Marian Dragulescu (20%), followed by gymnast Catalin Ponor (16%), tennis player Horia Tecau (7%), handball player Cristina Neagu (7%), epee fencer Ana Maria Branza (4%), tennis player Simona Halep – who decided not to represent Romania at Rio due to fears related to the Zika virus (2%), and tennis player Florin Mergea (2%).

When it comes to foreign athletes from the Olympics, Romanians liked Usain Bolt (11%), Michael Phelps (7%), and Rafael Nadal (3%).

Only 21% of the Romanians surveyed by IRES said that they are doing sports regularly (at least once a week).

The study was conducted between August 16 and August 18 on a sample of 1,223 respondents aged over 18.

Who are the most popular sports personalities in Romania?

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com