Nadia began gymnastics in kindergarten with a local team called Flacăra, with coaches Duncan and Munteanu. At age 6 she was chosen to attend Béla Károlyi's experimental gymnastics school after Karolyi spotted her and a friend turning cartwheels in a schoolyard.
Karolyi was looking for gymnasts he could train from a young age and saw the two girls during recess. When recess ended the girls ran inside. Karolyi went around the classrooms trying to find the girls, with no luck. So, he asked, "Who likes gymnastics?" and the girls popped up saying, "We, we!" Karolyi said one of the girls became a very promising ballerina. The other was Nadia. Nadia was training with Károlyi by the time she was 7 years old, in 1968.
She was one of the first students at the gymnastics school established in Onești by Béla and his wife, Marta. Unlike many of the other students at the Károlyi school, Comăneci was able to commute from home for many years because she lived in the area.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Com%C4%83neci
