Update: Dominique Moceanu predicted her gym would open in May, and it is. Right on time, the Olympic medalist's Dominique Moceanu Gymnastics Center celebrates its grand opening tonight at 6 p.m.
Located at 734 N. Progress Drive in Medina, the space offers yoga (mostly for adults) and non-competitive gymnastics for kids of all ages. The gym is open Monday through Saturday.
(Original story posted 1/11/2018): At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, 14-year-old Dominique Moceanu had the world's attention at her feet. Her floor routine, artfully choreographed to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (see above), not only helped solidify millions of fans' devotion, but also the first-ever team gold medal for U.S. women's gymnastics.
Following the Games, however, Moceanu was in the spotlight for other reasons — suing her parents for emancipation, and also writing a tell-all book about her coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi's abusive tactics.
Now 36, the Olympian is opening The Dominique Moceanu Gymnastics Center in Medina. She plans to have the gymnastics/yoga/birthday party hot spot up and running by May, according to her gym's website.
“I’m going to put my own dream into this facility,” Moceanu told the Chronicle. “We’ll create a gymnastics and yoga facility under one roof. I believe this was meant to happen.”
Moceanu, who's lived in Hinckley the past few years with her husband and two children, has also been instrumental in speaking out about the abuses of USA Gymnastics. Her Medina-based gym will not offer a competitive team option, but will focus more on the instructional side of the sport.