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
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.
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.
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.
barely create father holiday recall scene single walking
I can barely recall a single holiday when my father didn't make a scene or create some kind of chaos. We were always walking on eggshells.
afraid coaches sports
I was so afraid to make mistakes and get reprimanded by my coaches that the joy of the sport started slipping away.
believe child healthy matter nurture physical succeed
My husband and I believe that if you treat a child well and nurture his talent and physical ability, in a healthy environment, the child will succeed no matter what.
believe coaches compete environment good gymnastics looking taking
I believe you can be young and compete in gymnastics if you have a coach who is looking out for you and if there is a good gym environment where the coaches are taking care of you emotionally and physically.
adoption existed given knew secret sibling
I have a secret sibling that I never knew existed and who was given up for adoption at birth by my parents, and she was born without legs.
among came child dream escaping giving gymnastics life popular regime sports states united
In Romania, of course, gymnastics is among the most popular sports, and my parents had a dream of escaping the Ceausescu regime and giving their child a better life. So they came to the United States and put me in gymnastics.