Dominique Moceanu, My Lost Love
With all the talk of the recent olympics, my mind’s eye wandered to my favorite olympian of all time. A young woman whom my 12-year-old self lusted after with the heat of 1,000 suns. It also led to some of the worst news I’ve ever heard.
The woman is Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu. The news: She’s married to a doctor and has two children. While I’m happy for her, this information has led to a part of me dying.
The time was August of 1996. Bob Dole was accepting the Republican nomination for president, Prince Charles and Princess Diana were divorcing, and the Summer Olympics was in full swing in Atlanta. The nation fixated its glare on the “Magnificent Seven,” as they were called, but I was focused on my Wonderous One.
The 14-year-old Moceanu was strikingly beautiful to me, and I found myself watching more gymnastics in those two weeks than I had in the rest of my young life combined. Suddenly, my life was all Dominique, all the time.
Things came to a head the night of the individual balance beam competition. I watched the contest from beginning to end, then turned in for the night. I fell asleep and she, to paraphrase Billy Ocean, got into my dreams and out of my television set.
The scenario is as vivid to me now as it was then. I was standing in an elevator, going up when it came to a stop. The doors opened and Dominique Moceanu entered. We locked eyes and said hi. Pleasantries were exchanged, then fate intervened. The elevator got stuck. After trying half-heartedly to get it working again, we succumbed to our young teenaged lust and began making out. Things were as hot and heavy as they could get between 12 and 14 year old children. Then it all came to a stop as I awoke.
Suddenly, the dream was over, but a new chapter in my life was beginning. For, on this night, I became a man.
I tried to recapture our moment together by purchasing the Wheaties box featuring the gymnastics team, and asking my mom to buy tickets to the team’s nationwide tour (she said no), but it wasn’t to be.
If you’re out there, Dominique, thanks for the memories. Your husband is a lucky man.
Tags: Dominique Moceanu, Gymnastics, Magnificent 7, Magnificent Seven, Olympics, wet dreams, Young love
That was a beautiful story about Little Moceanu! Wow – a guy who’s both sensitive AND pretty damn cute! I would like to possibly use this story on my website. I don’t know how yet. Maybe just post the whole thing and then comment on it. You should go to my site and look through it before you say “Yeah, go ahead.”
But either way, great job. Dom was a special girl in 96, and if I was a guy your age living back in that era, she would probably haunt my dreams too.
Sarah!
[...] can read Ryan’s original post here, and you can read the same post below, with my comments thrown in where necessary, as usual. This [...]
I just found this looking around at 96 Olympics clips/articles. I just remember having the biggest crush on this girl! I to was exactly 12 years old at the time.
I remember everybody going nuts when she used “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” as her floor music. I grew up in the south.
I completely understand that heart breaking disappointment that comes from finding out shes married with kids… but I think for me just the fact that we all grew up is a little heart breaking too.
It’s easy to think that those we don’t see for 15 years just stayed young while we somehow got older. Thanks for the memories, friend.
I randomly saw an olympic girl on the front page of MSNBC this morning and my mind immediately remembered the name Dominique Moceanu. I was 10-years-old and Moceanu was my first crush…she was so beautiful to me back then. Your article from last year has crushed my dreams as well hehe. Like the poster above mentioned, thanks for bringing back this memory of my childhood.