Dominique Moceanu biography   Born on September 30, 1981, in
Hollywood, California, to Romanian immigrants, Dominique Moceanu
began training with renowned gymnastics coach Béla Károlyi at
age 10. She was the youngest member of the "Magnificent Seven,"
the U.S. women's gymnastics team that won the gold medal in the
1996 Olympics, and later released an autobiography detailing the
abuse she suffered while training for the team.  Early Years
Dominique Helena Moceanu was born on September 30, 1981, in
Hollywood, California. The oldest child of Dumitru and Camelia,
Romanian immigrants with backgrounds in gymnastics, Dominique
Moceanu took her first classes in the sport at age 3. When she
was 10, her parents drove her from Florida to Texas so that she
could try out for Béla Károlyi, the renowned Romanian coach who
had trained Olympic champions Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou
Retton. Károlyi accepted Moceanu into his program, and she
became the youngest member of the U.S. junior national team.
Competitive Gymnastics  D