Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion

[tempest]

It’s been unnamed since the element entered the COP.

Would it be named after Karpenko(in theory)?

 

[QuietColours]

Chapter 15: My Normal Life

• Started 9th grade in fall of 1995. Had a late start due to Worlds, which were in October. She spent September getting ready, so she did correspondence courses instead of regular high school
• The materials were provided via videotape. She likes being able to rewind and go over things again if something is hard to understand
• Each videotape contains a series of subject and classes for every day of the week. It's better than just reading the materials and doing homework. Feels she learns as well or better than she would in a regular classroom, and the tapes present homework assignments so her parents can work with her if she needs extra help
• But it requires more discipline than in-person school. Especially after hard days, the last thing she wants to do is put on a tape and learn math.
• Math is a hard subject for her. But she's a great speller, which helps with reading and writing
• The discipline of training gymnastics makes her a better student. When she did traditional school, she also often found that the serious athletes were also more involved in the classroom
• She is looking forward to going back to regular school, probably next year
• She misses seeing her nongymnast friends every day
• Her plans are to qualify for the 1996 Olympic team. Then there is a national tour for two or three months and additional competitions. So she probably won't be back in a classroom until 1997
• She wants to go to college and study sports medicine. She enjoys studying anatomy and science, and gymnastics has made her very familiar with how the body works
• Right now her focus is gymnastics and it's pretty much her whole world, but a gymnastics career doesn't last forever. She'll need to have another career planned

Chapter 16: Downtime

• Likes to relax quietly in her room listening to music. But it doesn't seem like she gets much time to do this!
• She and her parents make sure she gets time to decompress–being able to unwind is key to handling stress at other times
• Loves being in her room at home with all her souvenirs and collections. Her parents are even expanding her room so she'll have space for everything
• Has a collection of small stuffed animals, especially elephants, and souvenir spoons from cities she's visited. She's not that superstitious, but she also has a collection of guardian angel pins. Seven is her lucky number, so she has 7 angel pins on her gym bag
• She likes shopping for clothes and getting new music CDs. She likes country-and-western music: Garth Brooks, George Strait, and Reba McIntyre. Most of her fellow gymnasts are also into country music. Bela likes rock and roll
• Sometimes she just likes to sit in her room and think about all her happy memories
• She has most of her gymnastics medals hanging alone one wall in her room. The really special ones are in velvet cases on a shelf
• On another wall is a framed copy of the Sports Illustrated article after she became National Champion. And a Brad Pitt poster.
• In the living room, there's a bookcase where they keep mementos of her gymnastics career. Her parents also keep a scrapbook for her that she's looking forward to showing her children one day

 

[QuietColours]

Chapter 17: I'm a Fan Too

• She likes to watch ice skating
• Sometimes she plays tennis
• One of her favorite photographs is an autographed one of Monica Seles
• Ice skating is her favorite sport after gymnastics and she knows how to do it, but she can't do it (or any other sport) too much because she can't risk injury
• Bela would have very little patience if she arrived at gym with an ice skating injury
• Her favorite skaters are Kristi Yamaguchi, Kurt Browning, and Scott Hamilton. She got to meet them at the Rock 'n' Roll Championship for skaters and gymnasts
• She won an electric guitar at that show, which she keeps in her room
• She's also a big fan of Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski. Tara reminds her of herself–they're both small people with big hearts and bigger dreams

 

[QuietColours]

Chapter 18: On the Go

• One of the best things about being in competitive gymnastics is the ability to travel and see new places and meet new people
• Sometimes they're so busy they don't get a chance to explore
• Has so far traveled to Sabae, Japan; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Charleroi, Belgium
• Didn't have much time to sight-see in Sabae–mostly saw the city through the bus window going to and from the arena and the hotel. Everything was amazingly clean and people were so polite. People seemed much more restrained. America has more freedom of expression and individuality, but she wishes Americans littered less and didn't mess up public spaces
• Japan was very pretty, very different looking.
• Got to wear yellow gis at a welcome ceremony. She mostly ate rice, and she wouldn't try the jellyfish. She wants to go back
• Jet lag can be hard to deal with, but she gets used to the new schedule pretty quickly
• She's lucky that usually at least one of her parents can travel with her. Some girls can't have a parent, and she knows they miss them a lot
• Always shares a room with another gymnast when they travel. They have to be very serious–it's not a slumber party.
• When she has a little freedom, she rushes to buy postcards, some to save and some to send to friends at home. She always tries to buy presents for her parents, sister, and best friends
• Traveled to Sao Paulo for Pan-American games in 1992. They got to spend a whole day sight-seeing and immediately went to the beach. The Brazilians were very warm and demonstrative, much more open than the Japanese
• Got the impression people in Brazil are looser and less concerned with appearances–more interested in living well and being happy
• Belgium was 1993. Charleroi was the most old-fashioned looking town she'd ever been in. Streets were very narrow and winding, made for horses and carriages, and cars were very small
• The hotel room was so tiny she could cross it in 10 steps. The phone was big and old-fashioned and never worked well, the TV was like from I Love Lucy–big, old, black-and-white with antennas. There were four channels, all in French or Flemish. She didn't watch much television
• The bathroom was down the hall from her room, which she found very weird.
• Her room had a special code she had to enter to get in, and she had a had time remembering it. Some other people in the same delegation had the same problem
• Hasn't taken a vacation with her family since she was 10–they've been too busy
• Wants to spend a week at Disney World (she was there once, for an exhibition, but it was brief. She thinks her sister would love it too)
• Wants to go to the Cayman Islands

 

[QuietColours]

Chapter 19: Countdown to the Olympics

• People compare her physically to Nadia and say her joy during competitions is like MLR. She's never really compared herself to either–she's familiar with their accomplishments, but she takes her day-to-day inspiration from athletes competing now
• Kim Zmeskal is the first gymnast she remembers connecting with and watching on TV. Kim, Kerri, and Betty are the gymnasts she admires the most, and they influenced her to pursue the same goals when she went to Karolyis
• Has had the chance to meet MLR. She's very sweet and upbeat
• Meeting Nadia was a great moment–met her shortly after moving to Houston. They became friends when Nadia found out Dominique speaks Romanian, and later Dominique read more about Nadia's career and struggles for freedom
• Ecstatic to have the chance to compete in this year's Olympics, but she tries to take it one day at a time
• Keeps a countdown that started in August 1995 after Nationals
• The days leading up to a competition are days every athlete cherishes
• Qualifying trials will be right before the Games. She thinks she and Kerri will be the only Karolyi athletes to qualify. She'll probably already know the other athletes, and it will be a chance to renew friendships and possibly make new friends
• They're all from different clubs with different coaches, but they'll pull together to make Team USA
• Imagines filing out with them during Opening Ceremonies
• Would love to win a medal in 1996
• Sometimes she looks in the mirror and pretends she's Dominique Moceanu, Olympic Champion. Then she looks in the mirror and sees Dominique Moceanu, her parents' daughter and that's enough

 

[RAFIKI]

Then she looks in the mirror and sees Dominique Moceanu, her parents' daughter and that's enough

I remember thinking this line was odd as a teenager. Now it seems extra sad and poignant.

 

[QuietColours]

Favorite things:

Colors: Red, pink, black-and-white. She doesn't like brown
Athletes: Michael Jordan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, Kurt Browning, Andre Agassi
Actors: Jim Carrey, Brad Pitt, Steve Martin
Actresses: Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Anniston
TV shows: Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends
TV soap opera: Days of Our Lives
Cars: BMW convertible, Ford Explorer (she doesn't like clunky cars)
Cereals: Apple Jacks, Rice Krispies, Corn Pops, Wheaties
Foods: Steak, chicken breast, Mom's Romanian specialties (such as gris), feta cheese, spinach
Least favorite foods: Onions, garlic, mushrooms, liver, squid
Drinks: Apple juice, nonalcoholic strawberry daiquiris
Things she can't live without: Personal computer
Music: Country and western
Musicians: George Strait, Garth Brooks
Countries: Japan, Brazil
Animals: Her pets, Mitzy, her cat, and her goldfish
Sister: Christina
Jewelry: Her lucky elephant necklace

There is a guide to gymnastics scoring and the events. A couple of highlights:

• Base score was a 9.4, and then they had to get the other .6 from bonuses
• In optional vault, they get two tries with the higher score counting
• Six judges rate the gymnast, tossing the highest and lowest scores
• Vaulting horse dimensions: 4 feet high, 5 feet long, 11 inches wide. The runway is 3 feet wide and 82 feet long
• Uneven bar bases are three feet apart. The upper bar is about 8 feet from the ground; the lower about 5 feet. The height can be adjusted slightly for the gymnast
• Must have at least two release moves
• Must have at least four passes on floor, and at least one must contain two or more saltos
• Floor routines are 70 to 90 seconds
• Top 12 teams in the world compete in the Olympics, each team will have 7 gymnasts. All seven perform each event in the tea competition and the top 5 scores count. The 36 athletes with the highest scores move on to the AA finals, and the 8 highest scoring gymnasts on each event go to the vent finals
• She thinks individual event finals are the most exciting
• Rhythmic Gymnastics became an Olympic event in 1984. It incorporates dance moves, music, and hand apparatuses for a compelling and graceful performance. Acrobatic moves are not allowed. The five events are rope, hoop, ball, clubs, and ribbon. Individual all AA medals are also awarded. In the group competition, teams of five gymnasts perform two routines. For 1996, teams will perform first with 5 hoops, then with 3 balls and 2 ribbons
• Rhythmic gymnastics has composition and execution panels