For as long as I can remember, my mother went to church every single Sunday. She was born and raised in Romania as a person with limited means, and faith was something she could rely on - something that was free. Dominique Moceanu More Quotes by Dominique Moceanu More Quotes From Dominique Moceanu I learned to take those experiences that were difficult in my life and in the adversity that I had overcome to use it for a positive change. Dominique Moceanu adversity use overcoming It's human nature to be timid in the face of obstacles, but I have learned to believe that challenges are opportunities for genius to shine. In order to feel alive, we have to accomplish things that we once believed we could not. Dominique Moceanu gymnastics opportunity believe We need to educate our elite coaches more and have a better approach to teaching the athletes about how to be healthy rather than berate them, humiliate them, use tactics that could scar them for life. Dominique Moceanu healthy athlete teaching Training with Bela and Marta Karolyi took the joy out of the Olympics for me. I look back and feel there was a lot of verbal and physical abuse. For years, I felt it was my problem. Dominique Moceanu abuse joy years Autographs and pictures do get a little old, but I don't mind if the people want it. Dominique Moceanu mind want people As a competitive gymnast, my life has always been filled with challenges that would ultimately define my future. From day one, I was taught to be prepared at all costs. Dominique Moceanu taught cost challenges The time leading up to the 1996 Olympics was the most demanding and stressful of my career. The sport I had loved so much was slowly becoming a nightmare as I trained with Bela and Marta Karolyi the summer before the Olympics. Dominique Moceanu careers summer sports I had this sister that was born who was given up for adoption, and I never knew it. Dominique Moceanu adoption born given In my very first interview, at nine years old, I said I wanted to be an Olympic gold medalist. That was the first time I said it out loud in front of somebody other than my parents. Dominique Moceanu parent gold years Since my mother is an extremely devoted Christian Orthodox woman, she prayed a great deal and taught me how to pray. Dominique Moceanu taught christian mother My parents enrolled me in a gymnastics class when I was three years old, and I just was drawn to gymnastics. I loved it. It was my playground, and I could run around and be free there. Dominique Moceanu gymnastics running years I was 26 years old when I found out that I had a sister who I never knew existed. Dominique Moceanu found years My husband and I believe that if you treat a child well and nurture his talent and physical ability, in a healthy environment, the child will succeed no matter what. Dominique Moceanu child you talent believe Gymnastics is the greatest sport in the world, and one of the hardest, but we have to watch out for domineering male figures who try to belittle and scream at young girls. Dominique Moceanu greatest try young world I loved gymnastics. I was eager to compete. I was hungry to go out there and be the best in the world, and I had that determination. Dominique Moceanu loved best determination world My parents didn't know anything about collegiate scholarships, so they had accepted the national team training stipend, the monthly stipend that I received after making the national team, so I was ineligible for NCAA eligibility anyway. Dominique Moceanu parents know training team I got injured at the Olympic Trials in 2000. I could not jump. I could not walk on my leg properly. I couldn't bend my knee. I couldn't straighten it. Dominique Moceanu bend jump walk trials Gymnastics was my calling. I think it chose me in a lot of ways. Dominique Moceanu i-think think me calling I prayed a lot. That's all I had in the gym; that was the thing I could turn to. Dominique Moceanu prayed thing turn gym My father wasn't allowing me control and the financial freedom that I was asking for. I was 17, about to be 18 within a year, so I started asking more questions because I felt that I needed to start learning about those things. Dominique Moceanu me learning freedom father
