Dominique Moceanu reflects on the 20th anniversary of the 1996 Summer Olympics and her Magnificent 7 teammates, who won the first Olympic gold medal in U.S. women's gymnastics history.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Twenty years ago today, U.S. women's gymnastics ruled the sports world.
"The Magnficent 7'' of Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps and Kerri Strug won the team competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ga., on July 23, 1996. It was the first Olympic team gold in U.S. women's gymnastics history.
Seven small girls became big stars. They were in demand to appear anywhere and everywhere. They sold out arena after arena for exhibitions. They were on a Wheaties box. In 2008, they were inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame as a team.
Moceanu, arguably the most recognizable and famous of the seven, eventually moved from Houston to Northeast Ohio and started a family.
Moceanu, 34, recently spoke with DMan's World to commemorate the Magnificent 7's 20th anniversary and talk about other subjects, including her feud with Bela and Marta Karolyi.
DMan's World: When I say, 'July 23, 1996,' what are the first thoughts that come to mind?
Dominique Moceanu: Anniversary of Olympic gold. The day that my life changed forever. The first U.S. women's gymnastics team to win gold. Making history.
DW: What was it like to be the Magnificent 7 at the Atlanta Games?
DM: It was the 'Centennial Olympics,' celebrating 100 years of the modern Olympics, and the games were in the USA, so it was spectacular. Atlanta did a tremendous job selling so many tickets; it felt like everything was sold out. Just unbelievable.
It became a double-edged sword. There was so much more pressure because the expectation was for the USA to win gold. But we also had incredible support. When we walked into the arena for podium training -- training -- we had something like 33,000 people chanting, 'USA! USA!' I don't think that's ever happened.
DW: How did you deal with the pre-competition nerves?
DM: Of course you're going to feel the nerves, some sort of butterflies. But as soon as I walked out there, they subsided. I had been trained to focus and do my job. I knew how to compete -- I loved competition. I internalized my nerves. I just needed to control my thoughts and make sure I was in the zone when I needed to be in the zone.
DW: In the team finals, you missed on both of your vault landings. Consequently, you were unable to clinch gold for Team USA at that moment, opening the door for Kerri Strug to become a household name. So, without you, there is no Kerri Strug as we know her -- even though, as it turned out, your highest score would have sufficed.
DM: People can misinterpret if I talk about it that way. I'm happy for Kerri, who did an awesome job, and I'm forever grateful that my vault didn't cost the team anything. I contributed three high scores for Team USA: on bars, beam and floor. Those were some of the best routines of my life, and I will be forever grateful that I was able to do those, at age 14, under tremendous amounts of pressure.
Where the vault is concerned, I redeemed myself in the all-around final. I nailed the vault of my life. I was like, 'That's the one I know I can do.' That probably was the highlight of my Olympics.
DW: It easily is forgotten that you competed with a stress fracture in the tibia.
DM: I was diagnosed with a 4 1/2-centimeter stress fracture five weeks before the Olympic Games. And that was only from over-use. That was from a coach not being smart enough to say, 'You know what, we need to tone it down a little.' But that was kind of how it was. If you were a Karolyi gymnast and didn't go into the Olympics with an injury....
DW: We'll get to that in a minute. What was it like behind the scenes immediately after the medal ceremony?
DM: Oh, my goodness. As soon as we walked off the podium, we were escorted to a private room to meet President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea. They were the first people we saw, as best as I can remember. Then we walked up to meet our parents. Then Bruce Willis and Demi Moore threw us a surprise party at Planet Hollywood.
The party at Planet Hollywood is one of my fondest memories. We were police-escorted there. It was so awesome to have these people whom I didn't know but admired, throw us a party. Demi Moore was so cool. She took the time to talk with us and could not have been nicer.
DW: What did you eat at Planet Hollywood? Burger and fries?
DM: Uh, no -- although we were very, very hungry. I wanted to eat some pasta, but I still needed to train the next day. I don't remember having much of anything.
DW: Other highlights from the Olympics experience that come to mind?
DM: We met Dream Team III. They wanted our autographs. Shaquille O'Neal picked me up and raised me over his head.
DW: Estimated fan mail post-Olympics?
DM: The living room of the family home in Houston was filled with U.S. Postal Service bins. It stayed that way for a long time. To this day, I still get mail. Can you believe that?
DW: Yes.
DM: People from other countries write me, inmates write me.
DW: Ah, yes -- inmates. You've told me that one of your biggest fan clubs is inmates.
DM: Well, it's interesting. I don't quite understand why, but it's one of those things.
DW: How did your nuclear family come about?
DM: I married Dr. Michael Canales on Nov. 4, 2006. We had our first child, Carmen Canales, on Dec. 25, 2007. We had our second child, Vincent, on March 13, 2009.
DW: What is Doc Mike's specialty?
DM: He is a foot and ankle reconstructive surgeon.
DW: If you need reconstructive surgery on an ankle, is he the one to do it?
DM: Definitely. He assisted on my right Achilles' tendon surgery in 2005.
DW: You graduated from John Carroll in May 2009 with a degree in business administration. What was the impetus?
DM: When I moved to the Cleveland area to be with Mike in the early 2000s, I wanted to get in-state tuition. So I started out at Tri-C and got my associates' degree. Then, when I was living in University Heights, I came to love John Carroll and the business school there.
DW: Any regrets about your gymnastics career?
DM: No regrets, per se. But I do wish I would have stuck around a little longer. I wish I would've had a more stable coaching relationship. If I'd had that encouragement from a stable coach throughout my career, I would have been able to do even more than I did. So I sometimes wish my overall experience was better.
My coaches were not that great, at times, to me -- as far as their (lack of) kindness and not encouraging me to continue the sport after the Olympics. I was just 14 years old and they basically stopped wanting to coach me. In one sense, it probably was for the best because I didn't need to stick with them. But I didn't have coaching consistency at a time in my life when I really needed it.
DW: The coaches to whom you refer are the Karolyis, Bela and Marta. Gymnastics royalty. Legends.
DM: Yes. They're the ones who abandoned me after the Olympics.
DW: In your memoir, "Off Balance,'' published in June 2012, you blasted the Karolyis as no one, to my knowledge, ever has. You wrote about all sorts of serious issues with them, specifically, Bela. From the sound of your voice today, nothing has changed. Are you still, say, as bitter as you were when you wrote the book?
DM: I wouldn't say bitter. I don't want it to be misconstrued.
DW: But you aren't back-tracking on your criticism of the Karolyis?
DM: Oh, no. The criticism is honest. I'm honest about what happened. That's not being bitter. Being bitter is when I'm constantly holding a grudge or angry with these people, and I'm not letting it go for something far less. They abused me -- emotionally, psychologically. We have to remember and keep in context what really happened. There is a lot more to this relationship, pretty much from the age of 10 to the age of 26 when I officially cut ties, than people know.
Actually, I was 27 when I cut ties, because I was in the middle of my pregnancy with Vincent when Bela showed up at my dad's funeral.
DW: What happened at the funeral of your father, Dimitry, in October 2008?
DM: I won't go into the details. The relationship was always one-sided: They never called me to ask how I was doing. Never. When my dad was sick and dying, I asked Bela to call him. Not one call. He never called, then he just showed up at the funeral, so that was really heart-breaking. You didn't have the time to give the man a call before he passed, yet you're showing up when you can't even talk to him anymore.
DW: Pockets of the gymnastics community criticized you for what you wrote about the Karolyis. Does it continue?
DM: The governing body mostly has shunned me. They block me sometimes from opportunities and things like that. But I found a lot of support, as well. A lot of people tell me, 'Hey, I can't say anything publicly, but I know that what you went through is all true and I appreciate what you're doing. I can't say anything because I have a stake in the game and I don't want to be blacklisted, so I can't speak up on your behalf.' People who are still in the community are scared to speak out because there is a culture of fear and repercussion. It's unfortunate that it's that way.
Yeah, there's an interesting vibe when I go to USA Gymnastics events. You definitely can tell the people who have a bias, and don't have a bias, toward me.
DW: Where your relationship with the Karolyis is concerned, is it a 50-50 culpability between Bela and Marta?
DM: Putting a percentage on each is difficult. I don't want to do it.
DW: Abuse is a super-charged word, as you know. Was physical abuse part of it?
DM: They didn't abuse physically, necessarily. It wasn't like they hit me. ... They would allow my father to do that.
DW: Yet you stuck it out with them for so many years. Why?
DM: My parents felt there was nowhere else to go. (The Karolyis) had political power for me to accomplish my dreams, and my parents thought they were doing what was right. I also didn't tell them a lot of what was happening in the gym. I didn't tell them some of the hardships I was going through because I didn't want to disappoint them. They had made huge sacrifices for me to be here.
From '92-96, I had a revolving door of coaches -- and I stayed at the same gym. That's really odd, to have so many different coaches coming in and out of the same gym. I did have one good coach. I was brought a Russian coach, Alexander Alexandrov. He coached me from '94-95. He taught me so much that I would take with me for the rest of my career. He polished me. It was great that I stayed for that reason.
DW: When you say the Karolyis "dropped'' you after the Atlanta Games, what do you mean? What happened?
DM: To this day, I have no idea. I don't know. It's just how they were. Nobody sat down with me and said, 'Hey, do you want to continue or not?' Their job was done. They didn't care about what I was going to do, or my future. So they left. They didn't even return me, as a minor, to my parents. I was 14 years old, left at the house that our delegation was staying at.
DW: What did you do next?
DM: I went to the kitchen and ate my sorrows away. It happened right after the Olympics were over. I finally had the freedom to eat, and I ate brownies. We're still in Atlanta and someone walks by and says, 'They left.' I said, 'Left where? Breakfast?' No, they were gone, out of there.
DW: Why did you continue training with them for a short stint in 1997?
DM: My dad begged them because I was by myself and, again, without a coach.
DW: You certainly had a competitive gymnastics career that brought the bitter with the sweet.
DM: The positives are intertwined with pain and hurt, and all of this stuff that's real life. I don't know of anybody with longevity in a sport who has enjoyed the sugar-coated, perfect career. It's just whether people choose to talk about those sides or not. My position is, we need to talk about them so we can help others not feel embarrassed and ashamed. There are a lot of dark secrets in our sport that are never told.
DW: When is the last time you said a word to Bela or Marta?
DM: At my dad's funeral, when Bela showed up. I've seen them since, but we don't speak. We're on opposite sides of the room.
DW: You realize you could have taken the easy route and not ripped them in the book.
DM: Of course. But I have my integrity at the end of the day, and I'm not selling out. That's worth a heckuva lot more than selling out for some opportunities. I can make my own opportunities. I have been successful, I will continue to be successful. I don't need the Karolyis, or to be embraced by the governing body. But a lot of girls feel that they do, and they are so scared to say anything contrary.
DW: What did Doc Mike say when he saw what you were writing?
DM: He was a supportive husband. He knew my mind was made up, and that my intentions were good. It wasn't like I set out to tell a negative story; most people don't read the book that way. It's a pure, honest depiction of what happened to me. Some publishing houses were like: 'Give us all the dirt. Make this a tell-all about the Karolyis.' I said, 'No, that's not my intent. I will tell you things as they happened in an honest and truthful way.'
DW: How would you summarize the Karolyis to someone who doesn't know anything about gymnastics?
DM: Svengali.
DW: Is that all?
DM: It's an accurate depiction. Let's leave it at that.
DW: How do you answer the critics who contend that the Karolyis got you to a spot where you were able to become famous?
DM: I would say that they need to check their facts. My Russian coach is the one who technically helped me and made my gymnastics grow.
DW: Do parents reach out to you with concerns that their child might be on the receiving end of bad coaching?
DM: Yes. I even get emails from fans who tell me that they wrote the Karolyis to tell them they were disappointed in how I was treated, and that they should apologize. Since the book came out, the Karolyis made one statement and the rest has been, 'No comment.' The 'no comment' speaks volumes.
DW: How is life for Dominique Moceanu these days?
DM: Life is great. No complaints.
DW: More than a few of your fans have made it known that you should be on 'Dancing With The Stars.' Why hasn't it happened?
DM: I'd love to do it. I really would. I've been in the mix three times that I'm aware of. I almost made it eight years ago, and I almost made it recently. I'd be perfect for it -- trust me.
DW: How have you put the John Carroll degree to good use?
DM: I'm a business owner. I started a jewelry business with Wendy Campbell. We've had it for a year and a half. We create custom jewelry.
DW: What else keeps you busy?
DM: I do gymnastics choreography on weekends and private lessons per request. And I do motivational speaking, which really has ramped up in the past few years. I speak to audiences of all ages.
DW: Give me some takeaways from one of your motivational speeches.
DM: Never let anyone tell you that you can't do something. Too many times in life, people put their own limitations on you or your child. And if you've earned something, enjoy it. Don't let anyone steal your joy in the moment.
DW: Word on the street is that Vincent is a gymnastics star in the making.
DM: He's a child prodigy in my eyes, for sure. I've never seen a 7-year-old boy do what he's doing. And it's not just me saying it. My husband and I have shown his videos to some Olympic medalists on the men's side who are friends of ours, and those guys are impressed. They can't believe what they're seeing. If Vincent wants to pursue it -- and he loves it right now -- there's no telling how far he can go.
DW: How do you and Doc Mike, who is a former collegiate gymnast, take the lessons you have learned and apply them to Vincent?
DM: Between my husband and me, we have 60+ years of experience in the sport. We're going to guide him to love the sport and enjoy it, but to understand that working hard is the only way to achieve your goals and dreams. If you don't want to do that, fine, there are other sports you can do. But if you want to do this, and you have dreams of winning more gold medals than Mommy, then you must put in the work.
DW: How has Vincent responded?
DM: (Laughing) He says: 'One gold? I can do more than that.'
DW: Will you and Doc Mike be Vincent's coaches?
DM: We help him. We answer his questions. Fortunately, we have friends who understand the sport on the technical level. We know good coaches. For now, though, we just want him to have fun. It's important that he enjoys it at this age. We will never force him to do anything. When the time comes for him to get serious, then we'll know what to do. He will have our 100-percent support.
