Dominique Helena Moceanu (, ; ; born September 30, 1981)
is a retired American
gymnast
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...
. She was a member of the gold-medal-winning United States women's gymnastics team (the "
Magnificent Seven") at the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
.
Moceanu trained under
Marta
Marta may refer to:
People
* Marta (given name), a feminine given name
* Märta, a feminine given name
* Marta (surname)
:István Márta composer
* Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer
Places
* Marta (river), an ...
and
Béla Károlyi
Béla Károlyi (; born September 13, 1942) is an ethnic Hungarian Romanian-American gymnastics coach. Early in his coaching career he developed the Romanian centralised training system for gymnastics. One of his earliest protégés was Nadia Co ...
,
and later Luminița Miscenco and
Mary Lee Tracy
Mary Lee Tracy is an American gymnastics coach and owner of Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, an elite program in Fairfield, Ohio.
Personal life
Tracy was born in Cincinnati, and has lived in Ohio all her life. Tracy attended Colerain High School ...
.
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 Games
The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...
and the 1994 junior national champion.
In 1995, at the age of 13, she became the youngest gymnast to win the senior all-around title at the
U.S. National Championships.
She was the youngest member of both the
1995 World Championships team and the gold-medal-winning 1996 Olympics team, and was the last gymnast to compete legally in the Olympics at the age of 14.
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
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, 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 career
Moceanu was born in
Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
, on September 30, 1981, to
Romanian Americans
Romanian Americans are Americans who have Romanians, Romanian ancestry. According to the 2017 American Community Survey, 478,278 Americans indicated Romanian as their first or second ancestry, however other sources provide higher estimates, whic ...
Dumitru Moceanu (1954–2008) and Camelia Moceanu (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Staicu; b. 1961), both gymnasts. She has two younger siblings,
Jennifer Bricker
Jennifer Bricker (born October 1, 1987) is an American acrobat and aerialist. She is the sister of gymnast Dominique Moceanu. Born without legs, she was placed for adoption by her parents. The Moceanu family from which she originates is ethnically ...
(born 1987), who was born without legs and adopted shortly after birth by Gerald and Sharon Bricker, and Christina Moceanu Chapman (born 1989).
She began training as a gymnast at the age of three in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, and at the age of ten, the family relocated to
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
in order for her to train with
Béla Károlyi
Béla Károlyi (; born September 13, 1942) is an ethnic Hungarian Romanian-American gymnastics coach. Early in his coaching career he developed the Romanian centralised training system for gymnastics. One of his earliest protégés was Nadia Co ...
and
Márta Károlyi
Márta Károlyi (; ; born August 29, 1942) is a Hungarian-American gymnastics coach and the former national team coordinator for USA Gymnastics. She and her husband, Béla, are ethnic Hungarians from Transylvania, Romania, who trained athletes ...
.
["IG Online interview: Dominique Moceanu"](_blank)
''International Gymnast''. 2015.
Under the Károlyis' guidance, Moceanu won her first U.S. National Team berth in 1992, followed by five medals, four gold and one silver, later that year, at the
1992 Junior Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
She became the junior national champion in 1994, and, the following year, in 1995, she became the youngest gymnast ever to win the
USA Gymnastics National Championships The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United Stat ...
.
She was also the youngest member of the U. S. team at the
1995 World Championships, and earned a silver medal.
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 months leading up to the 1996 Olympics, she was one of the most recognizable faces of
USA Gymnastics
United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and traini ...
, eclipsing more decorated teammates such as
Shannon Miller
Shannon Lee Miller (born March 10, 1977) is an American former artistic gymnast. She was the 1993 and 1994 world all-around champion, the 1996 Olympic balance beam champion, the 1995 Pan American Games all-around champion, and a member of the ...
and
Dominique Dawes
Dominique Margaux Dawes (born November 20, 1976) is a retired American artistic gymnast. Known in the gymnastics community as 'Awesome Dawesome', she was a 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, the 1994 U.S. all-around senior Nati ...
. Before the Olympics, she was featured in ''
Vanity Fair'' and wrote an autobiography, ''Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion'', with Steve Woodward. The book reached No. 7 on
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list.
1996 Olympics
Moceanu was expected to be a major medal threat at the Olympics.
However, after the 1996 U.S. Nationals, where she placed third in the all-around, she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her right tibia.
Her injury forced her to sit out the Olympic Trials, but she was petitioned onto the team on the strength of her Nationals scores.
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.
Her teammate
Kerri Strug
Kerri Allyson Strug (born November 19, 1977) is a retired American gymnast from Tucson, Arizona. She was a member of the Magnificent Seven, the victorious all-around women's gymnastics team that represented the United States at the 1996 Summer ...
vaulted next and clinched the gold for the U.S., but injured her ankle in the process.
Moceanu took Strug's place in the all-around finals, but made a mistake on the balance beam and placed ninth. 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 exercise and went on to a strong performance in the floor finals later that day, finishing fourth and just missing a medal.
Post-Olympics career
After the 1996 Olympics, Moceanu participated in professional gymnastics exhibitions, including a 34-city tour, 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.
Out of peak form, Moceanu placed ninth at the 1997 U.S. Nationals.
She then led a mostly inexperienced U.S. team at the
1997 World Championships in
Lausanne, Switzerland
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
,
where she qualified for the all-around final but did not medal.
In 1998, however, she returned to top form. Under her new coach, Luminiţa Miscenco, she adjusted to a significant growth spurt
and developed a more mature style. She was selected to compete at the 1998 Goodwill Games, where she became the only American to win the all-around title.
In doing so, she defeated the reigning world all-around champion,
Svetlana Khorkina
Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina (russian: Светлана Васильевна Хоркина; born 19 January 1979) is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2000 Summer Olympics, and the 2004 Summer Ol ...
, and the world silver and bronze medalists,
Simona Amânar
Simona Amânar (; born 7 October 1979) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast. She is a seven-time Olympic and ten-time World Championship medalist. Amânar helped Romania win four consecutive world team titles (1994–1999), as well as the 2000 ...
and
Yelena Produnova
Yelena Sergeyevna Produnova, also known as Elena (russian: Елена Серге́евна Продунова; born 15 February 1980), is a Russian former competitive Gymnastics, gymnast. Her senior international career lasted from 1995 to 2000 ...
. She outscored the second-place finisher,
Maria Olaru
Maria Olaru (born 4 June 1982)
Maria Olaru is a ...
—who would become the 1999 world all-around champion—by 0.687 points.
Two years later, training with Mary Lee Tracy at
Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy
Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, commonly shortened to CGA, is an American women's artistic gymnastics academy in Fairfield, Ohio. It is one of the elite gymnastics facilities in the country and has trained various Olympians and world champions, in ...
, Moceanu placed eighth at the 2000 U.S. Nationals. She qualified for the Olympic Trials but was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.
In the fall of 2000, Moceanu participated in a post-Olympics national exhibition tour. She also participated in the post-Olympics Rock N' Roll Gymnastics Championship Tour in 2004.
After a five-year hiatus from elite gymnastics, Moceanu announced in 2005 that she was returning. An injury kept her from competing that year, but she continued to train on floor and vault,
and in the summer of 2006, she was invited to attend the USA Gymnastics national training camp.
Moceanu competed at the 2006 U.S. Classic, where she successfully performed a full-twisting
Tsukahara vault
The Tsukahara can refer to a specific vault and a family of vaults in artistic gymnastics. The first Tsukahara vault was performed by (and named after) Mitsuo Tsukahara in 1972.
A Tsukahara vault consists of a half turn off the springboard onto t ...
. 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. In a decision that proved controversial, she did not qualify to the 2006 National Championships.
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. But after the Classic, she was told that she had needed a combined score on two events of 28.0 or higher to qualify; her combined score on vault and floor was 27.1.
She appealed the decision, but it was upheld.
She now coaches part-time at Gymnastics World in
Broadview Heights, Ohio
Broadview Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb in the Greater Cleveland area. The city's population was 19,936 at the 2020 census.
History
Early history
Native Americans once occupied the land that is now ...
,
and conducts clinics and private lessons around the country.
Moceanu runs the ''Dominique Moceanu Gymnastics Center and Carmen Yoga Studio'' in
Medina, Ohio
Medina ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Medina County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,094 at the 2020 Census. It lies about 33 miles (53 km) south of Cleveland and 23 miles (37 km) west of Akron within the Clevelan ...
, USA; where her son Vincent Canales also trains.
Personal life
Moceanu was raised in the
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...
, and has said that her faith was a source of comfort during her gymnastics career.
In an interview with
Christianity Today
''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
, in 2012, she said her sisters, Jennifer and Christina, are also
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, and that they all felt their separation as children and eventual reunion as adults was part of
God's plan God's Plan may refer to:
Theological concepts
* God's plan, or the Will of God
* Salvation, the saving of a soul from sin and its consequences
** Plan of salvation, a Christian concept describing God's plan to save humanity
** Plan of salvation ( ...
.
On October 27, 1998, Moceanu was
emancipated
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
by a
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
court, eleven months prior to her 18th birthday. Moceanu had reportedly
run away
Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to:
Engineering
* Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable
* Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...
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
Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, part of the metropolitan area. The population was 62,559 at the 2020 census. While the name "Spring" is popul ...
.
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. The family ultimately settled her past earning privately. 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.
Moceanu is married to Dr. Michael Canales, a
podiatrist
A podiatrist ( ) is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for ...
and collegiate gymnast. The two wed on November 4, 2006, in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, in a Romanian Orthodox ceremony attended by fellow gymnasts
Paul Hamm
Paul Elbert Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Washburn, Wisconsin) is a retired United States, American artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He is the 2004 Olympic Games, 2004 Olympic all-around champion, a three-time Gymnastics at the Summer Ol ...
,
Morgan Hamm
Morgan Carl Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Washburn, Wisconsin) is an American artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He is an Olympic silver medalist in the Gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic team all-around, team compet ...
,
Bart Conner
Bart Wayne Conner (born March 28, 1958) is a retired American Olympic gymnast. As a member of the US men's gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Conner won two gold medals. He owns and operates the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in N ...
, and
Nadia Comăneci
Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10. ...
. They first met in 1994, when Moceanu was 12 years old. Together, they have two children, Carmen Noel Canales (born December 25, 2007) and Vincent Michael Canales (born March 13, 2009).
Vincent is reportedly interested in pursuing a career in gymnastics, appearing on ''
American Ninja Warrior Junior
''American Ninja Warrior Junior'' is an American sports competition reality show on Universal Kids that premiered in 2018. It is the children's edition of ''American Ninja Warrior'' and '' American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja'', which themselv ...
'' in 2020 and voiced hope to compete in the
2028 Summer Olympics
The 2028 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, also known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28) is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028, in and around Los Angeles, Cali ...
.
In October 2021, Moceanu announced she was pregnant with her third child. The family resides in Ohio, where Canales practices medicine and Moceanu operates her own gymnastics training center.
Moceanu attended
Northland Christian School
Northland Christian School is a private, Christian, PK-12 school located in Northwest Houston.
History
Northland Christian School (NCS) was established in the spring of 1974. Seeking to create a school in their community that combined excellenc ...
as a teenager and went onto graduate from
John Carroll University
John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3, ...
, earning a degree in business administration in 2009.
In her memoir ''Off Balance'', Moceanu revealed that she has a younger sister,
Jennifer Bricker
Jennifer Bricker (born October 1, 1987) is an American acrobat and aerialist. She is the sister of gymnast Dominique Moceanu. Born without legs, she was placed for adoption by her parents. The Moceanu family from which she originates is ethnically ...
, who was born without legs and was given up for adoption at the hospital at birth.
Bricker is an
acrobat
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...
and
aerialist
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...
who idolized Moceanu before finding out they were sisters.
In ''Off Balance'', Moceanu also alleged that Béla and Marta Károlyi were abusive and manipulative when she trained under them.
Moceanu,
Jamie Dantzscher
Jamie Annette Dantzscher (born May 2, 1982) is an American former artistic gymnast. She was a member of the bronze-medal-winning American team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Early life
Dantzscher was born in Canoga Park, California and raised in ...
and
Jessica Howard
Jessica Howard (born 1984) is a retired rhythmic gymnast. Howard is a USA Hall of Fame gymnast, three-time National Champion and international medalist.
Career
Howard started gymnastics when she was three years old, and fell in love with rhythmi ...
testified at a
Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
hearing on March 28, 2017, about the
USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal
The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal relates to the sexual abuse of gymnasts—primarily minors at the time of the abuse—over two decades in the United States, starting in the 1990s. More than 368 people alleged that they were sexually assault ...
.
Major results
* 2000 U.S. Championships — 8th all-around
* 2000 U.S. Classic — 6th all-around
* 1998 Goodwill Games — 1st all-around
* 1998 U.S. Championships — 3rd all-around; 1st beam; 1st vault; 3rd floor
* 1997 World Championships — 6th team; 14th all-around
* 1997 U.S. Championships — 9th all-around; 2nd floor
* 1997 International Team Championships — 2nd team; 17th all-around (two events only)
* 1996 Olympic Games — 1st team; 9th all-around; 4th floor; 6th beam
* 1996 U.S. Championships — 3rd all-around
* 1995 World Championships — 3rd team; 5th all-around; 2nd beam; 7th floor
* 1995 U.S. Championships — 1st all-around; 2nd floor; 3rd vault; 5th beam; 6th bars
* 1995 U.S. Classic — 2nd all-around
* 1994 U.S. Championships — 1st all-around (junior)
* 1993 U.S. Championships — 7th all-around (junior)
* 1993 U.S. Classic — 8th all-around (junior)
* 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival — 12th all-around (junior)
* 1992 Pan American Games — 1st team, vault, bars, floor; 2nd all-around (junior)
* 1992 U.S. Championships — 5th all-around (junior)
* 1992 U.S. Classic — 10th all-around (junior)
* 1991 U.S. Classic — 7th all-around (junior)
References
External links
Official Website*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/19991001192500/http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/9313/ AAA Dominique Moceanu: America's Dreambr>
moceanugymnastics*
Off Balance: A Memoir- Dominique Moceanu with Paul & Teri Williams, 2012, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moceanu, Dominique
1981 births
Living people
Sportspeople from California
American female artistic gymnasts
American people of Romanian descent
Cuyahoga Community College alumni
Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics
John Carroll University alumni
Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics
People from Hollywood, Los Angeles
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
U.S. women's national team gymnasts
Goodwill Games medalists in gymnastics
Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games
21st-century American women