[Nadia fell from the balance beam twice at her first gymnastics competition, to the disgust of her trainers. She is sitting at the back of the bus on the way home. Bela goes and sits beside her]
Bela Karolyi: Don't cry about today.
Young Nadia Comaneci: I'm not crying. I never cry.
Bela Karolyi: You should. So that I could tell you not to. Nadia, the tragedy isn't that you fell. It's that you were the best, and you didn't live up to it! You completely lost your concentration!
Young Nadia Comaneci: It will never happen again. Never!
Bela Karolyi: You're not serious about gymnastics.
Young Nadia Comaneci: Yes I am.
Bela Karolyi: No you're not, you're just playing. You should quit.
Young Nadia Comaneci: No!
Bela Karolyi: Did you ever see *anyone* as bad as you were today?
Young Nadia Comaneci: No.
Bela Karolyi: Neither did I. Quit!
Young Nadia Comaneci: No!
Bela Karolyi: Go back to the schoolyard and do cartwheels if you just want to play!
Young Nadia Comaneci: No! I want to be a champion!
[He hugs her as she starts to cry]
Bela Karolyi: I'll confess something to you. I've been playing too. When I first found you, I only knew four sports. I wasn't even a real gymnastics coach. So I'll make a pact with you so we can both stop playing, hmm? Instead of teaching you what I don't know, I want to teach you what I do know. I will teach you how to have a runner's strength, the cunning of a handball player, and how, like a boxer, to be fearless of pain. You interested?
[Nadia nods]
Bela Karolyi: I'm talking about a lot of work. Total commitment. Total concentration. Don't take up my time and then quit!
Young Nadia Comaneci: I'll never quit.
Bela Karolyi: No one has ever worked as hard as I'm going to work you.
Young Nadia Comaneci: I shall work.
Bela Karolyi: You do, and you will be the best in the world.
