Word: karolyis
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...which Moceanu is well suited. Though just 4 ft. 6 1/2 in. and a slight 72 lbs., Moceanu is a fetching gamine who can ignite an arena with her Audrey Hepburn-like looks and contagious ebullience. "Dominique's best point is her personality," says her coach, the legendary Bela Karolyi, who trained both Comaneci and Retton. "Joking. Talking. Kidding. That will be her trademark...
That and her refusal to let anyone--Karolyi included--talk her out of who she is or what she wants. Last August after Moceanu finished the compulsory round of the U.S. championships in second place, she sat poker-faced at Karolyi's side as he told reporters, "I wouldn't mind if Dominique had a strong showing in optionals and finished second. It would protect her a little from the pressures of being No. 1." Asked to respond, Moceanu blurted, "I want to win!", leaving Karolyi laughing and shaking his head. After she did just that two nights later, making...
When Dominique was only 3 1/2, Dimitry called Karolyi, whom he had known in Romania before the coach's defection. "He laughed," Dimitry recalls. "He said, 'Don't bring her now. Bring her when she's nine or 10.'" Undaunted, Dimitry enrolled Dominique in a class in the Chicago area, and, as he'd hoped, she took to the sport naturally. Two months after Dominique's 10th birthday, Dimitry drove her to Houston. When Dominique saw the sign on Karolyi's gym, she squealed excitedly, "What are we doing here?" Dimitry answered, "Surprise...
...grand master was more circumspect. "She was nothing to explode in the air about," Karolyi says. Dimitry, undeterred, moved the family close to the gym. During the next 18 months, he commuted weekly to Florida to run a used-car lot. When he finally found a job in Houston, he laid down only one condition: "I have to travel for Dominique's meets...
...possible 10 for a lukewarm compulsory floor exercise, Moceanu earned a 9.8 for a routine that ignited the crowd. Sniffed one judge: "If Chow got a 9.425, Moceanu deserved an 11." But in the interest of creating a cohesive U.S. team, even flamboyant rival coaches Steve Nunno and Bela Karolyi kept their egos somewhat in check. Nunno, who in '92 boasted, "Bela is an '80s coach; I'm a '90s coach," last week publicly welcomed Karolyi back to the sport after a two-year retirement with the words "Bela will always be the leader...