29 Facts About Dominique Moceanu

Dominique Moceanu was a member of the gold medal-winning United States women's gymnastics team, the "Magnificent Seven", at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Dominique Moceanu earned her first national team berth at age 10 and represented the United States in various international competitions at the junior level.

Dominique Moceanu was the all-around silver medalist at the 1992 Junior Pan American Games and the 1994 junior national champion.

Dominique Moceanu 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.

Dominique Moceanu began training as a gymnast at the age of three in Illinois, and at the age of ten, the family relocated to Houston, Texas in order for her to train with Bela Karolyi and Marta Karolyi.

Under the Karolyis' guidance, Dominique Moceanu won her first US 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.

Dominique Moceanu 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.

Dominique Moceanu was the youngest member of the US team at the 1995 World Championships, and earned a silver medal.

Dominique Moceanu was expected to be a major medal contender at the Olympics.

Dominique Moceanu's 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, Dominique Moceanu contributed to the team gold medal with performances good enough to qualify her for the event finals on balance beam and floor exercise.

Dominique Moceanu took Strug's place in the all-around finals, but made a mistake on the balance beam and placed ninth.

Dominique Moceanu finished the exercise and went on to a strong performance in the floor finals later that day, finishing fourth and just missing a medal.

Out of peak form, Dominique Moceanu placed ninth at the 1997 US Nationals.

Dominique Moceanu then led a mostly inexperienced US team at the 1997 World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she qualified for the all-around final but did not medal.

Dominique Moceanu was selected to compete at the 1998 Goodwill Games, where she became the only American to win the all-around title.

Two years later, training with Mary Lee Tracy at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, Dominique Moceanu placed eighth at the 2000 US Nationals.

Dominique Moceanu participated in the post-Olympics Rock N' Roll Gymnastics Championship Tour in 2004.

Dominique Moceanu competed at the 2006 US Classic, where she successfully performed a full-twisting Tsukahara vault.

Dominique Moceanu 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 US Classic.

Dominique Moceanu was raised in the Romanian Orthodox Church, and has said that her faith was a source of comfort during her gymnastics career.

On October 27,1998, Dominique Moceanu was emancipated by a Houston court, eleven months prior to her 18th birthday.

Dominique Moceanu 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.

Dominique Moceanu eventually reconciled with her father, with him walking her down the aisle at her wedding in 2006.

Dominique Moceanu is married to Dr Michael Canales, a podiatrist and collegiate gymnast.

The family resides in Ohio, where Canales practices medicine and Dominique Moceanu operates her own gymnastics training center.

Dominique Moceanu attended Northland Christian School as a teenager and went on to graduate from John Carroll University, earning a degree in business administration in 2009.

Bricker is an acrobat and aerialist who idolized Dominique Moceanu before finding out they were sisters.

In Off Balance, Dominique Moceanu alleged that Bela and Marta Karolyi were abusive and manipulative when she trained under them.