Dominique Moceanu - Post-Atlanta Career

Post-Atlanta Career

Following the Atlanta Olympics, Moceanu participated in numerous events and professional gymnastics exhibitions, including a 100-city tour, before returning to competition. With the retirement of the Károlyis, she began training with other coaches at Moceanu Gymnastics, a gym constructed and run by her family.

Out of peak form, Moceanu placed ninth at the 1997 US Nationals. She participated in the 1997 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, leading a new and mostly inexperienced US team. She was elected team captain, and qualified for the all-around final, but the competition was not a positive experience for her.

By 1998 however, Moceanu returned to top form. Under the tutelage of her new coach, Luminiţa Miscenco, she adjusted to a significant growth spurt and developed a clean, elegant style. She was selected for the American team at the 1998 Goodwill Games, where she became the only American to win the all-around title. In doing so, she defeated reigning World all-around champion Svetlana Khorkina and World silver and bronze medalists, Simona Amânar and Elena Produnova. She not only won the competition, she dominated the rest of the field. Outscoring the second place finisher and future 1999 World All Around Champion Maria Olaru by .687 points. Many consider this competition the highlight of her career.

Training with Mary Lee Tracy at the Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy (CGA), Moceanu placed 8th at the 2000 U.S. Nationals. She qualified for the Olympic Trials, but was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.

In fall 2000, Moceanu participated in a post-Olympics national exhibition tour. She also participated in one of the post-Athens Olympics gymnastics tours in 2006, the "Rock N' Roll Gymnastics Championships".

After a five-year hiatus from elite gymnastics, Moceanu announced a return to competition in 2005. However, injury kept her from competing in the 2005 Nationals. She remained committed to her comeback efforts, training on floor and vault.

In summer 2006, Moceanu was invited to attend the USA Gymnastics national training camp. She also competed at the 2006 US Classic, where she performed decently on vault, successfully executing a full twisting Tsukahara vault. On floor, she went out of bounds on her tucked full-in pass and fell on her double pike, posting one of the lowest FX scores of the meet.

In a decision that proved to be somewhat controversial, Moceanu was not able to qualify to the 2006 U.S. National Championships. She stated that she had been informed that she would advance to Nationals by attending the National Training Camp and competing at least two events at the Classic. Despite meeting these requirements, she was not able to qualify to Nationals based on her Classic performances. She appealed this decision with USA Gymnastics, but the ruling was not overturned.