Word: camelias
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
That lesson has been drummed into Moceanu by her parents. While still sweethearts in Romania, Dimitry and Camelia Moceanu resolved to defect to the West. In 1980 Dimitry secured a tourist visa and fled to Austria, leaving behind a secure job as a manager of Romania's duty-free shops. When Camelia followed eight months later, they reunited in Greece, staying long enough to marry and conceive Dominique, then crossed the Atlantic. Over the next 10 years, Dimitry's assorted jobs took the family from California to Illinois to Florida...
...seen his dreams destroyed when a teacher called his mother and firmly suggested that Dimitry must choose: gymnastics or school. Forced to abandon the sport he loved, Dimitry says, "I made myself a commitment that I'd like my first child to be a gymnast." While courting Camelia, he shared his plan. "I said, 'It'll be a big commitment. It's gotta be a different country. But we have no money, so we may just drink water and eat bread.'" And Camelia, who had competed in gymnastics at a less rarefied level, agreed...
When she feels the need, she turns to Camelia, who definitely deserves gold honors as all-around mom. Camelia prepares Dominique's nutritionally balanced meals, massages her aches, cuts her hair, chauffeurs her to and from the gym twice daily, six days a week--and all the while helps Dominique keep her head on straight. "You have to be prepared for the success and the failure," says Camelia. "That's what defines a great athlete: to be level-headed. You have younger kids following...
...also helps that neither Dimitry nor Karolyi seems to be hinging his future happiness on the outcome in Atlanta. Though Dimitry remains his daughter's most avid fan, he also takes great pride in the used-car lot he opened last December. He and Camelia, he says, "succeed in our life too, day by day, year by year." As for Karolyi, he says only Zmeskal could have made him bleed. He isn't concerned that the Olympics will throw Moceanu off her stride--or off the beam. "Dominique is naturally self-confident," Bela says, then laughs. "Sometimes too much...
...march, sponsored by The Free Afghanistan Alliance, will begin after a brief noon-time ceremony featuring Alexy Semyonov, Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov's step-son, and Camelia Sadat, daughter of slain Egyptian President Anwar Sadat...