Dominique Moceanu
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox gymnast
Dominique Helena Moceanu (Template:IPAc-en, Template:Respell; {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; born September 30, 1981) is an American former artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal-winning United States women's gymnastics team, the "Magnificent Seven", at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. She won two medals at the 1995 World Championships and the all-around title at the 1998 Goodwill Games.
Moceanu trained under Marta and Béla Károlyi, and later Luminița Miscenco and Mary Lee Tracy. She earned her first national team berth at age 10 and represented the United States in various international competitions at the junior level. She was the all-around silver medalist at the 1992 Junior Pan American Championships and the 1994 junior national all-around champion. In 1995, at the age of 13, she became the youngest gymnast to win the senior all-around title at the U.S. Championships. She was the youngest member of both the 1995 World Championships and the 1996 Olympic teams.
Moceanu's last major success in gymnastics was at the 1998 Goodwill Games, where she became the first American to win the all-around gold medal. Family problems, coaching changes, and injuries derailed her efforts to make the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and she retired from the sport in 2000. Since then, she has worked as a coach, studied business management, and written a memoir, Off Balance.
Early lifeEdit
Moceanu was born in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on September 30, 1981,<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to Romanian Americans Dumitru Moceanu (1954–2008)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Camelia Moceanu (née Staicu; b. 1961).<ref name="stld"/> Both of her parents were gymnasts in Romania.<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Both of her parents are ethnic Aromanians, and Dominique speaks the Aromanian language fluently.<ref name="aro1">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her parents emigrated from Romania to the United States in 1980.<ref name=":1"/><ref name="sister">Template:Cite news</ref> She has two younger siblings, Jennifer Bricker (born 1987), who was born without legs and adopted shortly after birth by Gerald and Sharon Bricker, and Christina Moceanu Chapman (born 1989).<ref name="stld">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> She began training as a gymnast at the age of three in Illinois,<ref name=":1"/> and at the age of ten, the family relocated to Houston, Texas, in order for her to train with Béla Károlyi and Márta Károlyi.<ref name="ig06">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>
Gymnastics careerEdit
Early careerEdit
Less than a year after beginning to train with the Károlyis, Moceanu finished fifth in the all-around at the 1992 U.S. Championships.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was then selected for the junior national team at 10 years old.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":3" /> She won five medals, four gold and one silver, at the 1992 Junior Pan American Games as the youngest competitor of the event.<ref name=":1"/><ref name="cleveland">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She finished fourth in the floor exercise final at the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival after the crowd booed her score, leading the judges to increase it from 9.600 to 9.650.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She became the junior national all-around champion in 1994.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1995, Moceanu became the youngest gymnast ever to win the all-around title at the U.S. Championships at the age of 13.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="latimes"/> She was also the youngest member of the U. S. team at the 1995 World Championships, helping the team win the bronze medal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She finished fifth in the all-around and was the highest-placing American.<ref name="ig06" /> She won a silver medal in the balance beam, tying with Ukraine's Lilia Podkopayeva with a score of 9.837.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Moceanu's national and international successes, combined with her bubbly attitude, earned her attention and a wide fan base both in and out of the gymnastics community in the lead up to the 1996 Summer Olympics.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="latimes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Before the Olympics, she was featured in Vanity Fair,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and she wrote an autobiography, Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion, with Steve Woodward.<ref>Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion. Dominique Moceanu, as told to Steve Woodward. BT/Yearing, 1995, Template:ISBN.</ref> The book reached No. 7 on The New York Times Best Seller list.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1996 Summer OlympicsEdit
Moceanu was expected to be a major medal contender at the Olympics.<ref name=":3" /> However, after the 1996 U.S. Championships, where she placed third in the all-around, she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her right tibia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her injury forced her to sit out the Olympic Trials,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but she was petitioned onto the team on the strength of her U.S. Championships scores.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
At the Olympics, still struggling with her injury and sporting a heavily bandaged leg, Moceanu contributed to the team gold medal with performances good enough to qualify her for the event finals on balance beam and floor exercise. However, she faltered in the last rotation of team optionals, falling on both vaults.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite news</ref> Her teammate Kerri Strug vaulted after her to clinch the gold for the U.S. but injured her ankle in the process.<ref name=":10" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Moceanu took Strug's place in the all-around finals,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but she made a mistake on the balance beam and placed ninth.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the beam final, she fell when she missed a foot on a layout and crashed into the balance beam on her head. She finished the routine and went on to have a strong performance in the floor finals later that day, finishing fourth and just missing a medal.<ref name=":11">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Post-OlympicsEdit
After the 1996 Olympics, Moceanu participated in professional gymnastics exhibitions, including a 34-city tour,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> before returning to competition. With the retirement of the Károlyis, she began training with other coaches at Moceanu Gymnastics, a gym built and run by her family.<ref name="ig06" /><ref name="change"/> She placed ninth in the all-around at the 1997 U.S. Championships. Because of the new age eligibily rules that prevented gymnasts younger than 16 from competing at international competitions, Moceanu was named to the six-person team for the 1997 World Championships.<ref name="change">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There, she led the mostly inexperienced U.S. team to a sixth-place finish.<ref name=":12">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She also qualified for the individual all-around final, finishing 14th.<ref name="change"/>
In 1998, she began working with a new coach, Luminiţa Miscenco,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and she adjusted to a significant growth spurt.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the 1998 Goodwill Games, she became the first non-Russian to win the all-around title. In doing so, she defeated the reigning World all-around champion, Svetlana Khorkina, and the World silver and bronze medalists, Simona Amânar and Yelena Produnova. She outscored the second-place finisher, Maria Olaru, by 0.687 points.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Later that year, she won the bronze medal in the all-around at the U.S. Championships.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Two years later, training with Mary Lee Tracy at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, Moceanu placed eighth in the all-around at the 2000 U.S. Championships. She qualified for the Olympic Trials, but she withdrew with a knee injury.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the fall of 2000, Moceanu participated in a post-Olympics national exhibition tour.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She also participated in the post-Olympics Rock N' Roll Gymnastics Championship Tour in 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
After a five-year hiatus from elite gymnastics, Moceanu announced in 2005 that she was returning.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An injury kept her from competing that year,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but she continued to train on floor and vault,<ref name="ig06" /> and in the summer of 2006, she was invited to attend the USA Gymnastics national training camp.<ref name=":13">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Moceanu competed at the 2006 U.S. Classic, where she successfully performed a full-twisting Tsukahara vault. On floor, however, she went out of bounds on her tucked full-in tumbling pass and fell on her double pike, posting one of the lowest scores of the meet.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a result, she did not qualify to the 2006 U.S. Championships.<ref name=":13" /> She stated that USA Gymnastics officials had told her she would qualify if she attended the national training camp and competed at least one event at the U.S. Classic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> But after the U.S. Classic, she was told that she had needed a combined score on two events of 28.0 or higher to qualify, and her combined score on vault and floor was 27.1.<ref name=":14">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She appealed the decision, but it was upheld.<ref name=":14" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
On October 27, 1998, Moceanu was emancipated by a Houston court, eleven months prior to her 18th birthday. Moceanu had reportedly run away from home earlier that month, on October 17, and filed for emancipation on October 19. She accused her parents of abuse and exploitation and alleged they had used US$4,000,000 of her earnings to build a 70,000 square foot gymnastics training center in Spring, Texas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Chicago">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Moceanu's parents ultimately decided not to fight her in court, and she was given control over her future earnings and allowed to live independently, though her father remained in charge of her trust.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The family ultimately settled her past earning privately.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Despite her father's claim that the family gym was a financial success, it permanently closed in February 1999, less than two years after it opened. She eventually reconciled with her father, with him walking her down the aisle at her wedding in 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="ig06" />
Moceanu is married to Dr. Michael Canales, a podiatrist and collegiate gymnast. The two wed on November 4, 2006, in Houston, Texas, in a Romanian Orthodox ceremony attended by fellow gymnasts Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, Bart Conner, and Nadia Comăneci.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They first met in 1994, when Moceanu was 12 years old. Together, they have three children, born in 2007, 2009 and 2022.<ref name="People_20090314">Template:Cite journal</ref> Their second child and only son, Vincent, is reportedly interested in pursuing a career in gymnastics, appearing on American Ninja Warrior Junior in 2020 and voiced hope to compete in the 2028 Summer Olympics.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Moceanu attended Northland Christian School and graduated from John Carroll University, earning a degree in business management in 2009.<ref name="Chicago"/><ref name="usaghof">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After coaching part-time at Gymnastics World in Broadview Heights, Ohio,<ref name=":6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She runs the Dominique Moceanu Gymnastics Center in Medina, Ohio, where her son Vincent Canales also trains.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Memoir and sisterEdit
In her memoir Off Balance, Moceanu revealed that she discovered she has a younger sister, Jennifer Bricker, who was born without legs and was given up for adoption at the hospital at birth.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":16">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bricker is an acrobat and aerialist who idolized Moceanu before finding out they were sisters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The documentaries "Eva Longoria's Versus: Romanian Roots"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (a spinoff of ESPN's 30 for 30) and “She Looks Like Me” from director Torquil Jones tells the story of the two discovering their connection.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In Off Balance, Moceanu also alleged that Béla and Marta Károlyi were abusive and manipulative when she trained under them.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Moceanu, Jamie Dantzscher and Jessica Howard testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 28, 2017, about the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="nytimessenate">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Competitive historyEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Template:FIG
- Dominique Moceanu at USA Gymnastics
- Template:Olympics.com
- Template:Olympedia
- Off Balance: A Memoir - Dominique Moceanu with Paul & Teri Williams, 2012, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, Template:ISBN
- Template:Webarchive
- Template:Webarchive
- Template:Webarchive
Template:Olympic champions artistic gymnastics Women TC Template:Footer USA Gymnastics 1996 Summer Olympics