Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion

[QuietColours]

Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion
An Autobiography as told to Steve Woodward
Copyright 1996

Introduction by Bela Karolyi

• Wow! That's what I say every time I see Dominique Moceanu whip through her floor exercise and balance beam routine
• She sparkles
• Seeing a gymnast he's coached catapult to the top of the sport gives him pride
• True competitor, just like MLR and Nadia Comaneci
• Deserves to be national champion and the hope of the American team to medal in 1996

My Journey

• 1979- Father, Dimitry Moceanu, leaves Romania for the US. Mother Camelia joins him in 1981
• 1981- Dominique born, September 30 in Hollywood, CA
• 1983- Move to Highland Park, IL. Between 3 and 4 enrolled in first gymnastics class
• 1985- 45 day European vacation; father contacts Bela in Houston about enrolling her. Bela says to wait until she's 9 or 10
• 1987- August 24, sister Christina is born
• 1991- Moves to Houston for her 10th birthday. First session is Dec 19
• 1992- US National Championships, Jr Division- Silver on beam
• 1993- US National Championships, Jr Division- Messed up. 7th AA
• 1994- US National Championships, Jr Division- Gold: AA, floor, vault; Bronze: Beam, UB
• 1995- Reeses International Gymnastics Cup: Gold: UB, Bronze: BB
• 1995- American Classic: Gold: vault, Silver: AA (tie); Bronze: BB, FX
• 1995- VISA Challenge, Sr Division: Gold: AA, FX, Team; Silver: UB; Bronze: BB, Vault
• 1995- US National Championships, Sr. Division: Gold: AA; Silver: FX; Bronze:VT
• 1995- World Team Trials: Gold: AA
• 1995- World Championships, Sr Division: Silver: BB, Bronze: Team

Prologue: Four Magic Words

• Had just turned 10 years old and was living in Tampa, FL where her father owned a car dealership and her mother was a hair stylist
• Was watching gymnastics on TV. Had been doing gymnastics since she was 3 and loved watching her idols on TV
• Cheered for Betty Okino–always watched Betty, Kim, and Kerri
• They all lived in Houston and were coached by Bela Karolyi, who had turned out multiple champions
• "If only I could train with Bela…I want to be like Kim and Nadia…Someday I will."
• "Okay," said my father. "We will go."
• And that's how we moved to Houston when I was ten. That's how I came to Bela's

 

[QuietColours]

Chapter 1: I Think She Has It

• Gymnastics career didn't begin with Bela–it began before she was born
• Both parents were gymnasts. Dad was on the junior national team and Mom was in a youth program. They agreed their first child would be a gymnast or other kind of athlete. Her dad wanted his children to have the discipline and determination of an athlete
• In 1979, soon after they were married, her father moved to the US. Her mother followed a year later and Dominique was born in Hollywood on Sept 30, 1981
• Dominique feels American, not Romanian–she's always lived in America, gone to American schools, most of her friends are American
• Speak Romanian at home, helped her parents preserve their heritage. The combination of American life and Romanian heritage is a great combination
• At six months her dad had her hold on to a clothes line. Her mother spotted while he carefully let go. Dominique laughed and hung on for minutes. "I think she's has it, Camelia."
• The clothes line broke before she let go

Chapter 2: LaFleur's Gymnastics

• After she passed the clothesline test, her father called Bela Karolyi. He explained Dominique was only 3, but she was born to be a gymnast
• Bela was impressed with her father's faith in her but said she was too young for formal training and that he should enroll Dominique in a local gymnastics club. Call him back when Dominique was around 9
• Were now in Highland Park, Illinois, and she had her first gymnastics classes there. Two years later, they moved to Tampa and enrolled her at LaFleur's Gymnastics
• They had faith that someday she would be coached by Bela
• She had a normal life, but she'd been bitten by the gymnastics bug–she just wanted to hang around at LaFleur's and play. She liked learning new skills and having fun, and if she made mistakes it was no big deal. Her mom always told her everything was all right
• Owner and head coach Jeff LaFleur became a family friend, and she was very fond of him and Beth Hair, the beam coach. She always stayed after her regular class, especially on open gym night
• First competition was when she was 7. She didn't know what competing meant or how it was different from training. She showed up, waited her turn, watched the other gymnasts, and did her routine
• People applauded for her–that's when she was really hooked. She liked being in the limelight and wished she had done better
• Resolved to compete again and do her absolute best from then on

 

[RedBirdie]

Interesting, in this book she writes that her parents were married in 1979. In the later book, it's 1981.

 

[QuietColours]

Even in the other book, she waffles a bit about saying her parents were married in 1979 and then talks about the engagement ceremony that happened. I don't know enough about Romanian culture to know if an engagement is the major binding commitment, with the wedding more a formality finalizing things? But I'm justifying. I also believe in unreliable narrators.

 

[MaryClare]

I think they were likely married prior to her mother reuniting with her father in the US. It would make sense for immigration purposes. But some of the time line just doesn’t really add up. Also, giving up a profoundly disabled child for adoption is very….romanian. I don’t believe at all that they were facing such financial hardship that it would have been impossible to care for the child.

 

[QuietColours]

The other book says they were married in Greece in Jan 1981, and then went to the US from there were Dominique was born nine months later

 

[QuietColours]

Chapter 3: Big Changes

• Started working in earnest after that first competition, and her parents and teachers noticed the change in her
• Her coach told her to slow down, that she had to learn A before B
• Her body was growing and it felt like she had a whole new her to get used to
• At 8 and 9 when she messed up, it set off her temper
• She competed more. Seeing her mother at competitions always made her nervous. At first, she never did well at competitions
• She had no patience for her own failure or mistakes
• Still loved everything about gymnastics
• To be the best at anything, you have to do that one thing at the expense of everything else you might enjoy–she chose gym over playing with friends, watching tv, or playing with her baby sister Christina
• Her parents supported and encouraged her, always showing her their love and helping her continue
• Without her knowing, her dad called Bela Karolyi again. He told him that Dominique still showed exceptional promise, and they wanted to go to Houston to train with Bela. This time Bela agreed
• Training at Karolyi's had only been a dream for Dominique until her Dad said, "Okay, we will go."
• Just a few weeks later they packed up everything and moved from Tampa to Houston. She only knew three things about Texas: Houston was there, Bela Karolyi was there, and she'd heard a TV announcer say MLR still lived here
• Training with Bela was her fondest wish
• It was a good thing she was only 10—if she'd been older, she'd have been scared of all the changes happening because of just her
• Her parents never let her feel any of that pressure. Her mother left her job at the hair salon. Her father was reluctant to leave his job at a car dealership, so for 18 months he commuted between Tampa and Houston. Her mother, sister, grandparents, and Dominique moved into a rental house and he would stay with them on the weekends
• In 1993 he sold the car dealership and moved to Houston for good. Dominique was happy. He took a job at a Ford dealership and soon became a sales manager. After a short while, he was back to running his own dealership, specializing in imported cars
• She's proud of his determination and hard work–he's had to start his life over many times, and each time he makes the best of the situation

Chapter 4: Starting at Bela's

• Was very nervous starting at Bela's in December 1991
• The blue gym was still being built. "Today" Bela's training center is gym gyms covering 28,000 sq ft. Two gyms are for younger gymnasts and one is for elites only. The elite gym has pale blue walls; the other gyms have tan walls. Everyone who goes to Bela hopes to train in the blue gym some day.
• Was very intimidated by Bela at first. Not many people get to meet him. He's a big guy, with a big mustache, who dashes around and seems to be everywhere at once.
• On top of meeting Bela, she was meeting her heroes–Kim, Kerri, and Betty! She was in awe of them, and now she got to see firsthand how amazing and dedicated they were. And that they were human, with good days and bad days and great days. And they were very nice and helpful from the beginning
• Had to show Bela, Marta, and Geza Pozsar her skills. She was too nervous to perform well, and Bela thought her skills were sloppy. She knew how to do many things, but she did nothing perfectly.
• Marta is a major part of the training program, even though Bela gets more publicity–that's fine with her. The two are a great team. They're like two lions pacing the gym, seeing all. At first it was intimidating, then it was comforting
• In 1981, Bela, Marta, and Geza toured the US with the Romanian gymnastics team–Nadia was their star. When the tour ended, Bela, Marta, and Geza had become very frustrated with the Romanian government. Almost single-handedly, they had brought tremendous success to the Romanian gymnastics program,but the government still treated them very badly. So the last morning of the tour they walked out of their hotel room with very little luggage and asked the American government for asylum and were given it. They had to create new lives for themselves from scratch, but they worked extremely hard and overcame their early difficulties

 

[QuietColours]

Chapter 5: Finding My Bearings

• Quickly settled into a routine. Woke early, ate breakfast, and one of her parents would drive her to the gym. Training until midmorning, then private school from 11-3. Back to gym for practice until about 8. Then dinner, homework, maybe a little tv, and bed
• Had to relearn everything she had rushed through in Tampa, unlearning many bad habits and correcting flashy skills with correct, clean technique
• Every gesture, movement, breath, had to be precise and consistent
• Floor was a nightmare when she first came to Karolyi's because she had so many bad habits. Pozsar was creating a new routine for her to Hungarian music, starting with a traditional dance step. She just couldn't get the eight steps right and figure out how to do the pose the right way. Geza spent an hour with her on it. Kim and Betty did it with her, trying to help. Finally Geza gave up and found something she could do.
• You can't do your best in gymnastics if you feel fear. Gradually overcame her fears with everyone's help
• After seven months, joined the junior national team. She was the youngest person ever to make juniors
• In 1994 she won the AA Junior Champion award at the US National Championships, as well as gold on vault and floor. She also received bronze on bars and beam. She was very proud that day
• Finally let go of her last fears and put herself into Bela and Marta's hands, and a real bond formed between her and the Karolyis. She felt she could talk to them, share her hopes and dreams, as if she belonged. She trusted them completely.
• She blossomed more as an athlete, doing better than ever in that nurturing environment

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

Kind of confused by the timeline, I thought the Karolyis had retired for a time after Barcelona. Was Dominique still
training with them from 1992-1994?

 

[IratePanda]

Did Alexandrov coach her during the Karolyis' brief retirement?

 

[rlayt]

I thought it was after 1996 that they briefly retired.

 

[IratePanda]

I thought it was after 1996 that they briefly retired.

They might have retired then, too, but they definitely stepped away from coaching after Zmeskal underperformed in Barcelona.

 

[Passion]

The timeline will be explained better further on in the other book. IIRC she was coached by Alexandrov for a few years, not Bela at all, until sometime around 1994ish.

It’s funny because I was just watching ‘96 team compulsories and optionals last night. At some point John Tesh says Bela and Dominique share a 6 year bond. I believe Bela wanted to push a narrative that he alone was responsible for her success, so this is what the media was told, but she credits a lot of it to Alexandrov in “Off Balance.”

 

[RedBirdie]

They might have retired then, too, but they definitely stepped away from coaching after Zmeskal underperformed in Barcelona.

It's covered in Quiet Color's excellent summaries of Kerri Strug's book, too. Bela and Marta basically acted like petulant children who took their ball and went home because they didn't get their way (and Kerri defended their behavior!).