Dominique Moceanu
Dominique Moceanu
Dominique Helena Moceanu is a retired Romanian American gymnast. She was a member of the gold-medal-winning United States women's gymnastics teamat the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGymnast
Date of Birth30 September 1981
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
people mind littles
Autographs and pictures do get a little old, but I don't mind if the people want it.
adoption given born
I had this sister that was born who was given up for adoption, and I never knew it.
years joy training
Training with Bela and Marta Karolyi took the joy out of the Olympics for me. I look back and feel there was a lot of verbal and physical abuse. For years, I felt it was my problem.
adversity use overcoming
I learned to take those experiences that were difficult in my life and in the adversity that I had overcome to use it for a positive change.
I know, I know ... I'm getting old.
earning living money realized
I realized I was the one doing all the training, earning the money, and my parents were living off of me.
against age court gone olympic public surprises traveled won
When you have traveled the world, won Olympic gold, and gone through a very public court battle against your parents all by the age of seventeen, surprises don't come easy.
accepted national ncaa received
My parents didn't know anything about collegiate scholarships, so they had accepted the national team training stipend, the monthly stipend that I received after making the national team, so I was ineligible for NCAA eligibility anyway.
age confident dealing grown huge men teenage
In football, you're dealing with grown men. In gymnastics, you're dealing with prepubescent teenage girls. There's a huge difference. At that age, you're not confident enough to have a voice.
born church faith limited raised rely romania single
For as long as I can remember, my mother went to church every single Sunday. She was born and raised in Romania as a person with limited means, and faith was something she could rely on - something that was free.
hard last left life natural opportunity penny provide spent struggled talent worked
My parents, Romanian immigrants, struggled to provide me a better life than the ones they had left in their homeland. They worked hard to give me every opportunity in life, and once I showed natural talent as a young gymnast, they spent every last penny on my training.
blue country gold gymnastics people represent standing women
I was able to represent my country and put on the red, white, and blue - how many people in the world get to do that? Standing on the podium with my teammates, and being the first women's gymnastics team to win this gold medal, it was life-changing!
I'd challenge myself to see how long I could go without a fall - on beam, I once went three weeks.
I prayed a lot. That's all I had in the gym; that was the thing I could turn to.