The 57-year-old five-time Olympic gold medallist, the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Games, was in Israel to start the Life Run in the country.

Comăneci also had a tour of the OCI's Olympic Museum, which includes an exhibition dedicated to those killed in the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Games in the German city.

The incident occurred when the Palestinian terrorist group "Black September" took 11 Israeli Olympic team members hostage and murdered them along with a German police officer.

Comăneci and husband Bart Conner, a double Olympic artistic gymnastics gold medallist, were welcomed to the OCI by chief executive Gilad Lustig and four female athletes.

It included five-time Olympic champion Esther Roth Shachamorov and Yael Arad, the first Israeli judoka to win an Olympic medal.

Israeli windsurfer Lee Korzits, a four-time world champion, and rhythmic gymnast Neta Rivkin were also present.

Comăneci, the Honorary President of the Romanian Olympic Committee, and Conner then visited a local gym to meet budding gymnastics.

"I did not imagine that I would get so much warmth and love here, I feel at home here," she said.