Early career and the Magnificent Seven

Moceanu was born in Hollywood, Florida, to Romanian parents Dumitru (1954-2008), and Camelia (née: Staicu; b. 1961). She has two younger sisters, Jennifer Bricker, born October 1, 1987, and Christina, born on August 24, 1989. Her parents, who had both been gymnasts in their native Romania, had early aspirations for her gymnastics career: while she was still a toddler, they tested her strength by allowing her to hang from a clothesline. Moceanu was raised Romanian Orthodox by her devout mother. Her faith figured prominently in her career as a gymnast. She said, "...it definitely helped me as an athlete to have in my bag and feel safe."

Moceanu began gymnastics classes in Illinois at age 3½ and later trained at LaFleur's club in Florida. In 1991 at age 10, she moved to Houston, Texas, where she became one of the last gymnasts to be trained by legendary Romanian coaches Marta and Béla Károlyi. She began competing internationally at a young age, earning her first U.S. National Team berth in 1992. At the age of 10½, in spring 1992, she earned five medals—gold in the team event, uneven bars, vault and floor exercise; silver in the all-around—at that year's Junior Pan Am Games.

Under Károlyi's tutelage, Moceanu became the U.S. Junior National Champion in 1994. In 1995 she repeated her success as a senior, becoming the youngest gymnast ever to win the USA Gymnastics National Championships. She was also the youngest member of the American team at the 1995 World Championships in Sabae, Japan. She did not disappoint, earning the highest American placement in the all-around competition and becoming the only American gymnast to win an individual medal, a silver on the balance beam.

Moceanu's national and international successes, combined with her plucky, 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 Atlanta Olympics, she was one of the most recognizable faces of USA Gymnastics, eclipsing more decorated teammates such as Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes. Before the Olympics, she was featured in Vanity Fair and wrote an autobiography, Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion. The book was highly successful and ranked number seven on the The New York Times Best Seller list.

Moceanu was expected to be a major medal threat at the 1996 Olympics. However, following 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, and 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 by turning in strong 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 and forcing the U.S. chances of a gold medal to rest solely on teammate Kerri Strug's final vault. With Strug injuring herself in the successful attempt, Moceanu took her place in the all-around finals. Unfortunately, mistakes cost Moceanu a medal there, and she placed ninth. In the balance beam event final, Moceanu 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-Atlanta career

Following the Atlanta Olympics, Moceanu participated in numerous events and professional gymnastics exhibitions, including a 100-city tour, before returning to competition. With the retirement of the Károlyis, she began training with other coaches at Moceanu Gymnastics, a gym constructed and run by her family.

Out of peak form, Moceanu placed ninth at the 1997 U.S. Nationals. She participated in the 1997 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, leading a new and mostly inexperienced U.S. team. She was elected team captain, and qualified for the all-around final, but the competition was not a positive experience for her.

By 1998, however, Moceanu returned to top form. Under the tutelage of her new coach, Luminiţa Miscenco, she adjusted to a significant growth spurt and developed a clean, elegant style. She was selected for the American team at the 1998 Goodwill Games, where she became the only American to win the all-around title. In doing so, she defeated reigning World all-around champion Svetlana Khorkina and World silver and bronze medalists, Simona Amânar and Elena Produnova. She not only won the competition, she dominated the rest of the field, even outscoring the second place finisher and future 1999 World All Around Champion Maria Olaru by 0.687 points. Many consider this competition the highlight of her career.

Training with Mary Lee Tracy at the Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy (CGA), Moceanu placed 8th at the 2000 U.S. Nationals. She qualified for the Olympic Trials, but was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.

In fall 2000, Moceanu participated in a post-Olympics national exhibition tour. She also participated in one of the post-Athens Olympics gymnastics tours in 2004, the "Rock N' Roll Gymnastics Championships".

After a five-year hiatus from elite gymnastics, Moceanu announced a return to competition in 2005. However, injury kept her from competing in the 2005 Nationals. She remained committed to her comeback efforts, training on floor and vault.

In summer 2006, Moceanu was invited to attend the USA Gymnastics national training camp. She also competed at the 2006 U.S. Classic, where she performed decently on vault, successfully executing a full twisting Tsukahara vault. On floor, she went out of bounds on her tucked full-in pass and fell on her double pike, posting one of the lowest FX scores of the meet.

In a decision that proved to be somewhat controversial, Moceanu was not able to qualify to the 2006 U.S. National Championships. She stated that she had been informed that she would advance to Nationals by attending the National Training Camp and competing at least one event at the Classic. Despite meeting these requirements, she was not able to qualify to Nationals based on her Classic performances, being told only after her performance that she had needed to compete in two events with a combined score of 28.0 or higher to qualify. She appealed this decision with USA Gymnastics, but the ruling was not overturned.

Personal life

In late 1998, Moceanu left home and sued for legal emancipation from her parents in order to regain control of the money she had earned as a professional gymnast. In the resulting court case and television interviews, she stated that her father had squandered her sizable earnings and had an abusive, controlling nature. The court approved her petition for emancipation and control of her finances. She eventually reconciled with both of her parents.

On November 4, 2006 in Houston, Texas, Moceanu married long-time boyfriend, podiatrist Dr. Michael Canales, a former Ohio State gymnast. On December 25, 2007, Moceanu gave birth to a daughter, Carmen Noel Canales. Her second child, a son named Vincent Michael Canales, was born on March 13, 2009.

Moceanu graduated in May 2009 with a business management degree from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. She also coaches part-time at Gymnastics World in the Cleveland suburb of Broadview Heights and conducts clinics and private lessons around the country.

In her book Off Balance, Moceanu shares that she had a younger sister, the aforementioned Jennifer Bricker, who was born without legs and was given up for adoption at the hospital at birth. Bricker, despite having no legs, is an acrobat and aerialist who idolized Moceanu before finding out they were sisters. In the book, she also states that Bela and Marta Karolyi were abusive and manipulative when she trained under them.

Major results

• 2000 US Championships: 8th AA
• 2000 US Classic: 6th AA
• 1998 Goodwill Games: 1st AA
• 1998 US Championships: 3rd AA; 1st BB; 1st VT; 3rd FX
• 1997 World Championships: 6th Team; 14th AA
• 1997 US Championships: 9th AA; 2nd FX
• 1997 International Team Championships: 2nd Team; 17th (two events only)
• 1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta USA: 1st Team; 9th AA; 4th FX; 6th BB
• 1996 US Championships: 3rd AA
• 1995 World Championships, Sabae JPN: 3rd Team; 5th AA; 2nd BB; 7th FX
• 1995 US Championships: 1st AA; 2nd FX; 3rd VT; 5th BB; 6th UB
• 1995 US Classic: 2nd AA
• 1994 US Championships: 1st AA (junior)
• 1993 US Championships: 7th AA (junior)
• 1993 US Classic: 8th AA (junior)
• 1993 US Olympic Festival: 12th AA
• 1992 Pan American Games: 1st Team, VT, UB, FX; 2nd AA
• 1992 US Championships: 5th AA (junior)
• 1992 US Classic: 10th AA (junior)
• 1991 US Classic: 7th AA (junior)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]