( picture of Dominique on the beam )

Dominique Moceanu-Gymnast

PRIME AIRTIME: The team competitions ( July 21 and 23 ), and the individual competitions ( July 28 and 29 )

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH HER: Because she is gymnastics' It girl -
lighter on her feet, brighter with her smile, and simply a lot more entertaining than any of the other gymnasts out there.  Whether bounding two feet in the air on a landing or playing air piano as she
zooms through " Let's Twist Again " in a floor exercise, the 4'6", 72 -
pound Moceanu makes it look like fun.  As she says, " I don't fake my
smile. "  Her Romanian parents defected to the U.S. in 1979, three
years after Nadia Comaneci stole the show at the Montreal Games.
 Dominique was born two years later, and last year, at age 13, she
became the youngest - ever U.S. national champion.  The main
obstacle to a gold right now may be her own body: Moceanu has a
stress fracture in her right tibia that may hamper her at the Games.  She is often likened to her mentor Comaneci, and the resemblance's are eerie:  They look alike; they share a Romanian heritage as well
as a coach ( Bela Karolyi ); and Moceanu goes to Atlanta two months
before her 15th birthday ( Comaneci was three months shy of 15 in
Montreal ).  Says Karolyi: " I can see in front of my eyes what I saw
when Nadia was a little girl.  It's frighteningly similar. "  So far.

THE ESSENTIAL ATHLETE: She has a Brad Pitt poster on her wall
and In-Line skates in her closet.  She gets As on her report card and
has double-pierced ears.  She is, in short, an American teenager.

Taken From: Entertainment Weekly- July 19, 1996
Page 47

Thanks goes to Thomas Doyle for typing this article