Dominique Moceanu – Bio, Sister, Age, Height, Net Worth, Parents

Quick Facts

Dominique Moceanu is a gold-medal-winning former gymnast who also wears the hat of a businesswoman and author. She holds the record as one of the finest female gymnasts the United States has ever produced. The former athlete started out in her young age – thanks to her athletic parents who discovered her talent on time.

In the course of her career, Moceanu represented her national team through the various age categories at both national and international world championships and also featured for several clubs. Although she has retired from the world of sport, her legacies are not totally forgotten. Currently, she is a successful entrepreneur and also works as a coach and an author.

Dominique Moceanu’s Bio (Age)

The former athlete was born Dominique Helena Moceanu in Hollywood, California, on  September 30, 1981. Dominique’s hometown is Cleveland, Ohio while her parents are of Romania descent. She began taking gymnastics classes at the age of three in Illinois and later trained in Florida, precisely at LaFleur’s. She was later coached by iconic Romanian coaches Béla and Marta Károlyi at the age of 10 after her family moved to Houston, Texas.

She launched her career at a very young age. She bagged her first U.S. National Team berth in the year 1992 as well as five medals at the Junior Pan American Games that spring. Under the guidance of Károlyis, the athlete became the junior national champion in 1994 and the senior national champion the following year, becoming the youngest gymnast ever to emerge as the winner USA Gymnastics National Championships. At the 1995 World Championships which took place in Japan, Dominique was also the youngest member of the American team. However, this didn’t stop her from becoming the only American to have won an individual a silver medal as well as the top American finisher in the all-around competition.

Prior to the 1996 Olympics, Moceanu wrote an autobiography titled, Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion, with Steve Woodward and was also featured in Vanity Fair. She also had a wide fan base both within and beyond the gymnastics world. Following her retirement in 2000, she has been involved with so many things. She graduated with a business management degree from John Carroll University in May 2009.

The former athlete also has a family – two children, whom she had with former Ohio State gymnast and podiatrist, Dr. Michael Canales after their marriage on November 4, 2006. The names of their children are Carmen Noel Canales (she was born on December 25, 2007) and Vincent Michael Canales (he was born in May 2009).

Parents

Dominique is the daughter of Romanian parents Dumitru Moceanu and Camelia Moceanu. The two are former gymnasts and are said to have arrived in the United States in the year 1981 after fleeing the Ceausescu administration in Romania. It was shortly after they settled in the U.S that Dominique was born.

The gymnast shared that her father was an authoritarian who abused his family on several occasions. When Moceanu was seventeen, she took her parents to court for squandering $1 million of her post-Olympic income. She later broke free from them and started taking control of her own finances.

Sister

Dominique has two younger sisters – Jennifer Moceanu (born October 1, 1987) and Christina Moceanu (born August 24, 1989). She was raised together with Christina while Jennifer was brought up by her adoptive parents, Sharon and Gerald Bricker, in Illinois. Jennifer was given up for adoption by her parents on the day she was born because she was born without legs and her father being an irresponsible figure decided not to raise her out of fear he would not able to foot her medical bills.

Although Jennifer was born without legs, she took to athletics (as an aerial acrobat) and the performer never allowed the disability to stop her from becoming a champion. She grew up fearlessly with the help of her older siblings (the Brickers). She fell in love with gymnastics at the age of eleven after watching Dominique Moceanu win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics for the US without knowing she Dominique was her biological sister.

Apart from their striking resemblance and athletic talent, Jennifer grew to understand that she shares a lot more in common with Dominique and so she began to idolize her. She eventually took part in the Junior Olympics and later started tumbling for the state of Illinois. As time moved on, she continued following Moceanu, even when she made headlines for taking her parents to court for recklessly spending the $1 million of her post-Olympic earnings.

After so many years, Jennifer found out from her adoptive mother that Dominique is actually her biological sister. And after taking some time to process the revelation, she decided to write to her informing her that she is her fan, that her biological last name is Moceanu and that she is her sister too. Moceanu got her letter on 10 December 2007, and immediately put a call across to mother because her father was ill at that time and could barely communicate with people. Camelia, amidst tears, told Dominique that her father gave up a baby girl for adoption in 1987.

After giving birth to her first daughter on December 25, 2007, Moceanu felt ready to meet Jennifer for the first time. Together with their younger sister Christina, she met Jennifer in Dominique’s apartment in Ohio for the first time. Sadly, their father died before the meeting but Jennifer eventually met her biological mom in January 2010 at the age of 22.

The sisters currently live in different states but they visit each other when they can. Jennifer, in particular still performs as an aerial acrobat and also travels the world as a motivational speaker.

Net Worth

From her sports, business, and writing career, Dominique has garnered quite a fortune. Being an international figure, it comes as no surprise that she is a millionaire. Currently, the former American professional gymnast is worth $2 million. Now, she is fully into writing and business, her earnings/net worth are expected to increase beyond this figure in the nearest future.

Body Measurements: Height 

Moceanu is 5 feet 3 inches (1.6 meters) tall. However, her exact weight measurement and that of her other body features are difficult to come by.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.