updated 7:24 a.m. ET Aug. 17, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - One of Nadia Comaneci’s perfect 10s at the Montreal Olympics wasn’t — well — perfect.

“She had a slight hop to the landing and that should be at least a half a tenth,” Martha Karolyi said of the beam dismount that produced one of Nadia’s seven perfect 10s that week.

Caught up in the moment, absorbed by the beauty and athleticism of a young girl who was changing the sport before their eyes, the judges saw past the nearly imperceptible error and awarded the 10 anyway.

The perfect 10s were transforming moments for the Olympics and gymnastics, and the feeling came again eight years later when Mary Lou Retton earned a perfect mark on the floor, and closed with another on vault en route to her all-around gold.

But those moments almost surely won’t be repeated this year, or anytime soon. The perfect 10 has slowly — perhaps sadly — filtered its way out of gymnastics, a victim of increased difficulty in events, tougher judging and, some critics say, maybe some hardheadedness and ignorance among those who run it.

“Actually, I think they thought there were too many 10 scores,” said Karolyi who, along with her husband Bela, coached Comaneci and Retton during their perfect-10 moments.

Where perfection used to be something that could be sensed or felt, as well as seen, it is now something that must be measured according to the rules of the very strict, very long, very complex Code of Points to which each judge and gymnast must adhere.

The Code of Points is nothing new, but it is much more detailed than it was in the past, and calls for two or three “bonus” moves in each event simply to get to a routine that could be eligible for a 10. In the past, gymnasts used to strive for a perfect 10; these days, they strive to develop a routine with a “start value” of 10, meaning it could conceivably earn a perfect score if it were done flawlessly.

“There might be somebody out there who could do a 10 routine, but they’re not going to get a 10 for it,” said Tasha Schwikert, an alternate on the U.S. team.

National champion Carly Patterson said no gymnast she knows ever goes out there thinking about scoring a 10 these days.

“You’d have to be beyond perfect,” she said.

Many gymnasts seek perfection in other ways. The most common is to put together a routine with a start value of 9.7 or 9.8 — “easier” by world-class standards — and try to do a flawless job with that.

But judges have grown pickier over the years.

At her pre-Olympic training camp in July, Martha Karolyi sat with three international judges who scored the competition. One, technical committee president Jackie Fie, was judging Courtney McCool, largely considered one of the most technically precise gymnasts in the world, while she did her floor routine.

“I’m sitting with them to see what they’re looking for, especially when they see a gymnast as perfect as McCool,” Karolyi said. “On one element, she gives one-fourth of one-tenth of a deduction. One-fourth of one-tenth? You never hear of that. But that’s what’s happening on the international scene.

“I always talk about that. In team meetings, I say, when you’re so perfect, they give you the minimum deduction. When you’re sloppy, they give you the maximum.”

As much as the gymnasts, though, it’s the sport that may be the ultimate victim of this persnickety scoring system.

Gymnastics is routinely among the most watched Olympic sports, but Bela Karolyi knows how things can change if a perfect 10 gets thrown on the board.

It stunned the world in ’76. Besides Comaneci’s performances themselves, there was astonishing footage of the manually, hand-turned scorecards, which weren’t equipped to handle four numbers, showing “1.00.” If nothing else, it plainly showed that the sport never really considered what would happen if perfection was ever achieved.

Once Comaneci broke the barrier, it became easier over the years. Then, after the 1992 Olympics, those 10s disappeared. Not one has been scored in major international competition since.

Martha Karolyi said she doesn’t bemoan the loss of the perfect 10, but does wish more judges appreciated the difficulty of what the girls are doing these days.

“Sometimes, some ladies who don’t step into a gym ever, they appreciate values of skill but don’t realize what effort it takes to get that skill,” she said.

Bela Karolyi, maybe the most internationally famous coach and booster of the sport, believes that maybe a perfect 10 is really more than just a number.

“It gives the flavor and spice to the sport that we need so much. Just the recognition of the performance,” he said.

And while his wife and many of the gymnasts doubt they’ll see another one for many years to come, Bela Karolyi is more optimistic.

“We’ve seen some almost-perfect scores lately,” he said. “Finally, I think it’s a sign that the judges are coming to get a realistic appreciation of the performance. And I believe, I truly believe, there is a gymnast out there who can get that magic 10.”

MORE FROM GYMNASTICS

Gymnastics Section Front

Paul Hamm allowed to keep gold medal Wilstein: Hamm goes for gold in sports' high court FIG considers gymnastics rule changes Celizic: Hamm should give up gold Belzman: Time to dump gymnastics Korean gymnast gets gold-medal welcome FIG denies putting pressure on Hamm Rogge refuses duplicate medal requests Interactive: Breaking down gymnastics NBCO: Inside the sport Gymnastics Section Front   Add Gymnastics headlines to your news reader: