Dominique Moceanu - Off Balance - Book Review - July 30, 2012

The 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta is something that most people are going to remember.  One of the biggest moments of that Olympic Games was the women's gymnastics team bringing home Olympic gold.  The Georgia Dome roared to life in support of the Magnificent Seven.  Dominique Moceanu, Amanda Borden, Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Jaycie Phelps, and Amy Chow put up a huge charge on that final night of competition.  Dominique Moceanu has recently released her new autobiography, Off Balance.  She takes you through that night along with the ups and downs of her career and life in this new book.  I found myself having "the devil went down to Georgia" song playing in my head the whole time that I read the Olympic chapter of her book just remembering that song playing and the Georgia Dome crowd roaring to life in support of her.  Dominique has always been my favorite of that amazing gold medal winning team.  When I heard about this book, there was no doubt that I was excited to pick it up and read it. 

This book is hard to put down because it is a powerful story as you really get an inside look at her journey to her dream.  The big moments but also the bumps in the road and how her dream at times were a nightmare.  The book begins with the story of an amazing surprise in her life.  She receives a letter, documents, and pictures from a sister that she knew nothing about.  Dominique was stunned to say the least over this as she went through the emotions of processing this news.  The book gives us the story of how this all played out in her life with learning of another sister and the introduction into each others lives.  It really is an amazing story and her sister is an absolute inspiration with her life.

Dominique does not shy away from her opinions of her career growing up.  The troubles, the hurdles that she had to jump over, and the odds she faced.  Dominique gives all of us readers a close up look at just what all she battled just to get to the Olympics.  Often times, we just see the pay off with athletes winning in whatever sport but we don't see the journey except maybe in random soundbytes or video packages.  This book takes you through the struggle that she faced to get to her dream.  After the Olympics, we get to see that the hills for her to climb got bigger as she tried to continue in gymnastics after her and the Karoyli's split.  Trying to find another coach and the trouble that it caused not just in her professional life but also in her personal life.  I loved reading about her comeback at the 1998 Goodwill Games which I was very excited about at the time and love to hear what it meant to her in this book. Her personal life became a major struggle not long after with the battle between her and her parents and how it effected her personally and also in her career.  It is a powerful and inspirational story to read about with her overcoming so many struggles and battling back.  The great things that came into her life including the story of meeting and marrying her husband and also becoming a mom.  Also, a comeback into the gymnastics world. 

I highly recommend checking out this book.  Definitely an inspirational story from this Olympic gold medalist.  For more on Dominique, check out her website at: www.dominique-moceanu.com. You can follow Dominique on Twitter, @dmoceanu.  You don't want to miss her tweets during competitions as she gives great insight on what she is seeing.  I look forward to reading her tweets during the rest of the London Olympic Games.

I also have to provide a link for this.  Dominique was very kind to do a Wrap Up Q&A for me for the website back in 2008.  I'm still very thankful to her for doing that and it was a lot of fun!  Check out the Q&A with Dominique from August 2008.
http://www.theentertainmentwrapup.com/2008/08/entertainment-wrap-up-august-15-2008.html

Take care and God bless!!