Dominique Moceanu was the youngest member of the distinguished "OUTSTANDING 7" gymnasts who gained group gold on the 1996 Olympic Video games. However at the back of the vast smile and shining medals she concealed heartache and ache inflicted by probably the most folks she relied on the most.
Her parents, Dimitry and Camelia Moceanu, got here to the us from Romania within the early EIGHTIES to flee the brutal regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. Each have been athletes and had prime hopes for his or her first child.
"My dad, he sought after a greater life," Dominique Moceanu stated in an unique interview with "20/20." "I FEEL he sought after me to do one thing that he did not get a possibility to do."
They enrolled 3-year-old Dominique in gymnastics and shortly it become transparent that their daughter had a unique reward. "Gymnastics was my calling. I FEEL it selected me in numerous ways," she said.
Watch the entire tale on "20/20" now
Setting their attractions at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Dominique Moceanu's oldsters took her to take a look at out for the well-known Olympic gymnastics coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi whilst she was NINE. To the Moceanus' delight, she was standard into their rigorous program, and the circle of relatives moved to Houston, Texas, to pursue her training.
"Bela Karolyi is the best kingmaker we've seen in gymnastics," stated Christine Brennan, ABC Information contributor and sports activities columnist for UNITED STATES As of late. "And Dominique Moceanu needed to have Bela Karolyi to grow to be the gymnast that she was to become."
PHOTOS: Dominique Moceanu Throughout the Years
But in her new memoir, "Off Balance" Dominique Moceanu recounts many painful episodes in her quest for Olympic gold. (Read an excerpt of "Off Steadiness" here.)
At simply 13-years-old, Dominique received the 1995 U.S. Nationwide Championships, beating out a lot more professional and skilled gymnasts. Her position at the Olympic crew gave the impression confident or even a rigidity fracture in her leg proper ahead of the video games did not forestall a made up our minds Moceanu from competing.
She breezed throughout the first three workouts -- asymmetric bars, beam and a ground regimen wherein she carried out to "The Satan Went All the way down to Georgia" prior to an adoring Atlanta crowd. Nevertheless it could be right through her ultimate experience -- the vault -- when, she said, her international caved in.
"I was shocked," Moceanu recalled, remembering how she felt after falling on each landings. "I COULD NOT consider that I'D sit down either one of my vaults down whilst it got here to it."
In the tip the united states.. group received gold, however Moceanu nonetheless feared the response of her father, who might chastise her after the medal rite. "I'VE this gold medal round my neck. I NEEDED to take it off. I USED TO BE devastated. It was heartbreaking."
Read More... [Source: ABC News: 20/20]
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