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GASTONIA – A world famous Olympic coach jumped into a new job as head of an elite gymnast program in Gastonia.

George Gorgoi coached gymnast Nadia Comaneci to the first perfect score in Olympic gymnastics history in 1976. Since then, he's coached all over the world. But now he calls First in Flight Gymnastics home.

Gorgoi still recalls the moment when the then 14-year-old Comaneci earned the first perfect score in Olympic Gymnastics history.

"What do you feel?" Gorgoi said. "Jump in the sky."

That victory, he said, isn't out of reach for the young athletes at First in Flight. In fact, he said the talent is what brought him to the only elite program in the area.

"There are some tremendous gymnasts in North and South Carolina, some great talent, and that's one of the reasons George came here," gym owner Andy Price said. "He would not agree to come work for us until he saw our kids."

The program is grueling, consisting of up to eight-hour practices – four hours in the morning and four more in the afternoon. But it prepares gifted athletes for national team competition, prestigious scholarships and even the Olympics.

"When they knew we were getting a coach of that caliber, they started training hard, stretching more, knew they would be pushed harder than ever before," Price said.

And Gorgoi said that's the commitment he's looking for.