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CNN 20: Nadia Comaneci Defects, November 18, 1989

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, NOVEMBER 18, 1989)

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 28-year-old former Olympic star flew to New York from Vienna, this after she fled Romania on Tuesday. At a brief news conference at Kennedy Airport, Comaneci seemed tired, stunned, but nevertheless joyful. She had fulfilled a long-time dream: coming to live in the United States.

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NADIA COMANECI, GOLD MEDAL OLYMPIAN: I want to say just a few words. I am very happy because I am here in America, and I wanted for a long time to come here. But I did have somebody to help me. This is my friend who helped me to come here, and I wanted to thank him, and I wanted have a free life.

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COMANECI: When I lived in Romania, I lived under a communist system, and it was very difficult because you couldn't choose what you wanted to do, and a lot of time people were followed by police. And you were told what to do. And it was a time that, you know, we said in Romania that you were even afraid of your shadow. So it was very difficult.

FELDMAN: Comaneci earned the first perfect score given to a gymnast at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. She won three gold medals there, and other medals four years later in Moscow.

Comaneci said she didn't know what she'll do next. And like the events unfolding across the Eastern Bloc, her future appears bright, if uncertain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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