Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu
Behind the scenes, life was not as fun. Dominique’s world-famous coaches were forceful and manipulative. Her father was also dominant and hit her on occasion. While her success can be correlated to his driving force and expectations, there were also unpleasant times. In 1998 Dominique left home and applied through the courts for legal emancipation from her parents, regaining control of the money she earned as a gymnast. Retiring from competition in 2006, Dominique quickly married, and by 2009 had two children and had earned a business management degree.
In 1987, Jennifer Bricker was born without legs. Unable to handle the anticipated medical bills, her parents put her up for adoption. Jennifer was raised by very positive parents who taught her to ‘never say the word can’t’. Despite her handicap Jennifer also excelled at gymnastics, receiving the U.S. Tumbling Association’s Inspiration Award in 1998. While growing up she had only one idol – Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu.
In a strange twist of fate, Jennifer decided to track down her birth family and was astonished to discover that her idol Dominique Moceanu was actually her real sister! She wrote a letter to the Moceanu family explaining who she was and they were soon reunited.
Here is an interview with the two sisters together. Each of them feels gratitude for their lives and they uplift each other. The bond between them is obvious, and somehow everything has come to the perfect conclusion. One sister is a talented star and the other has a beautiful positive outlook on life.
©Copyright 2015 Glenn Stewart Coles
