At age 14, Nadia Comăneci shakes the world of gymnastics with her perfect 10 out of 10 score at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Despite her victory, the gymnast from Romania never shakes off her serious expression, her eyebrows furrowed behind her bangs and her mouth shut. When asked by a journalist why she never smiles, she replies that she only thinks about her past and future training. Her precocious maturity and achievements inspire a host of little girls to rush to the gyms and sign up for gymnastics, not only in the Eastern bloc, but also on the other side of the Iron Curtain and in the United States. From those years on, the average age in the discipline dropped drastically: the younger the better. Frequent side effects have been growth problems, eating disorders, metabolic disorders... But nobody complains about it. The gym, sometimes, can be a cruel place. When it comes to pushing the athletes’ limits, anything goes; the coaches have more control as the girls are younger; and instead of trying to create a healthy and safe environment, all kinds of abuses start to be committed, on the mind as well as on the body...

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