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Things I like: suffragettes, war workers, factory girls, socialites who got stuff done, ladies who ruled countries, and women who changed the world, even if it was just a little bit. Click on photos for sources.

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Dominique Moceanu bounded on to the world stage in 1996 as the youngest member of the “Magnificent Seven,” the US’s first Olympic gold medal winning women’s gymnastics team.  Today she is a mother of two and an author. Her memoir, Off Balance, starts with the story of her parent’s marriage and follows her life to the present day. Previously I read Shawn Johnson’s Winning Balance.  For me, Off Balance is a much more interesting book. Dominique is ten years older than Shawn, which gives her more life experiences to write about and more distance her period as a teenage Olympian.  Dominique also seems to have had a much more challenging life than Shawn, from her tumultuous childhood to her discovery of an unknown sister at age 23.   Off Balance is worth picking up if you’re a gymnastics fan …or if you want to find out more about that secret sister. Off Balance on Amazon The Go For the Gold Gymnasts, Dominique’s children’s books, on Amazon Dominique’s Tumblr

Dominique Moceanu bounded on to the world stage in 1996 as the youngest member of the “Magnificent Seven,” the US’s first Olympic gold medal winning women’s gymnastics team.  Today she is a mother of two and an author. Her memoir, Off Balance, starts with the story of her parent’s marriage and follows her life to the present day.

Previously I read Shawn Johnson’s Winning Balance.  For me, Off Balance is a much more interesting book. Dominique is ten years older than Shawn, which gives her more life experiences to write about and more distance her period as a teenage Olympian.  Dominique also seems to have had a much more challenging life than Shawn, from her tumultuous childhood to her discovery of an unknown sister at age 23.  

Off Balance is worth picking up if you’re a gymnastics fan …or if you want to find out more about that secret sister.

Off Balance on Amazon

The Go For the Gold Gymnasts, Dominique’s children’s books, on Amazon

Dominique’s Tumblr

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Shawn Johnson won a gold medal for her balance beam routine and silver medals in the all-around and floor exercise.  Her autobiography, Winning Balance, covers her birth through her second attempt at making the Olympic team.  For me, the most interesting parts of the book described what it was like to be an Olympian- living in the Olympic village, interacting with the press, and her post-Olympics stint on Dancing with the Stars.  I wasn’t a fan of the “Life Lessons” at the end of each chapter, a short description of what Shawn learned from this period in her life.  Example: “… Find something you love, work hard at it, and keep your family a priority.  Things have a way of working out from there.”  I think it would have been a stronger book without these lessons, but for the tween segment of the audience they may be more impactful. The full title of the book is Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams and it was published by a Christian imprint.  This may be a pro for some readers and a con for others.  It is a “clean” book with no swearing or mentions of sex.  There are a couple of pages mentioning Shawn’s personal faith journey, but Christianity isn’t a major focus on the book. Overall, I’d recommend this book for gymnastics fans and tween readers who may better appreciate the inspirational sections.    Winning Balance on Amazon

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Shawn Johnson won a gold medal for her balance beam routine and silver medals in the all-around and floor exercise.  Her autobiography, Winning Balance, covers her birth through her second attempt at making the Olympic team.  For me, the most interesting parts of the book described what it was like to be an Olympian- living in the Olympic village, interacting with the press, and her post-Olympics stint on Dancing with the Stars.  I wasn’t a fan of the “Life Lessons” at the end of each chapter, a short description of what Shawn learned from this period in her life.  Example: “… Find something you love, work hard at it, and keep your family a priority.  Things have a way of working out from there.”  I think it would have been a stronger book without these lessons, but for the tween segment of the audience they may be more impactful.

The full title of the book is Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams and it was published by a Christian imprint.  This may be a pro for some readers and a con for others.  It is a “clean” book with no swearing or mentions of sex.  There are a couple of pages mentioning Shawn’s personal faith journey, but Christianity isn’t a major focus on the book.

Overall, I’d recommend this book for gymnastics fans and tween readers who may better appreciate the inspirational sections.   

Winning Balance on Amazon

jesuisgenevoise: Dominique Moceanu’s mount onto the balance beam at the 1996 Atlanta games Not a medal winning routine, but you can hear the crowd gasp when Dominique does her beam mount during the team finals.

jesuisgenevoise:

Dominique Moceanu’s mount onto the balance beam at the 1996 Atlanta games

Not a medal winning routine, but you can hear the crowd gasp when Dominique does her beam mount during the team finals.

Aly Raisman’s gold medal winning floor exercise to Hava Nagila. It is always nice when floor exercise music is easily recognizable, but this selection had a special punch considering the controversial lack of a moment of silence for the Israeli athletes killed in the 1972 Munich games.  Aly has said “Having that floor music wasn’t intentional, but the fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold today means a lot to me.”  This is the cover of today’s New York Post, the tabloid style paper the provided the quote above. Aly is the first American woman to win gold on the floor exercise.  In the US, you can see her routine here.

Aly Raisman’s gold medal winning floor exercise to Hava Nagila.

It is always nice when floor exercise music is easily recognizable, but this selection had a special punch considering the controversial lack of a moment of silence for the Israeli athletes killed in the 1972 Munich games.  Aly has said “Having that floor music wasn’t intentional, but the fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold today means a lot to me.”  This is the cover of today’s New York Post, the tabloid style paper the provided the quote above.

Aly is the first American woman to win gold on the floor exercise.  In the US, you can see her routine here.

(Source: dreamingaboutflowersandclouds)

Soviet gymnast Polina Astakhova of the Ukraine after a training session before the Tokyo Olympics, 8th October 1964. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Polina won three team gold medals at the Olympics (1956, 1960, 1964), two individual gold medals for the uneven bars (1960, 1964), two silver medals for the floor exercise (1960, 1964), and three bronze medals (team portable apparatus 1956, all around 1960 & 1964).  

Soviet gymnast Polina Astakhova of the Ukraine after a training session before the Tokyo Olympics, 8th October 1964. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Polina won three team gold medals at the Olympics (1956, 1960, 1964), two individual gold medals for the uneven bars (1960, 1964), two silver medals for the floor exercise (1960, 1964), and three bronze medals (team portable apparatus 1956, all around 1960 & 1964).  

Dominique Dawes profiles Gabby Douglas before the London Games.

Dominique Dawes was one of the “Magnificent Seven” who won the first US team gold in women’s gymnastics in 1996.  Dominique also won bronze medals as part of the US gymnastics team in Barcelona (1992) and Sydney (2000), as well as a bronze medal for floor in Atlanta (1996).  She is the first black person of any nationality to win an Olympic medal in gymnastics.  

Biographies and Autobiographies: Olympic Gymnasts

Links go to Amazon

Letters to a Young Gymnast by Nadia Comaneci

Heart of a Champion: The Dominique Dawes Story by Kim Washburn

Shannon Miller: My Child, My Hero by Claudia Miller

Off Balance: A Memoir by Dominique Moceanu and Paul and Teri Williams  

Landing on My Feet: A Diary of Dream by Kerri Strug

The Magnificent Seven: The Authorized Story of American Gold by NH Kleinbaum

Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith and Living Your Dreams by Shawn Johnson and Nancy French

The Fab Five: Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, and the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team (self published by GymnStars two weeks ago) 

Also, Dominique Moceanu has co-written a series of children’s novels called Go-For-Gold Gymnasts.

Mary Lou Retton after a 10 in vault made her the first American woman to win all-around Olympic gold, 1984.

Mary Lou Retton after a 10 in vault made her the first American woman to win all-around Olympic gold, 1984.

Visa commercial narrated by Morgan Freeman depicting Kerri Strug’s 1996 vault.

No, the US didn’t Kerri’s second vault to win the gold as the Russians fumbled on the floor.  But no one knew that at the time.  Kerri vaulted on an injured ankle to secure the team gold, in the process giving up her shot at the all around and the event finals.

Oksana Omelianchik was a Soviet gymnast.  She won the all around gold medal in the 1985 World Gymnastics Championships.  Oksana remains involved in gymnastics as a coach, choreographer and judge.

(Source: gymnasticsgifs)

theraconteurasaurus: Multiple exposure shot of Nadia Comaneci’s routine on the balance beam at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. Her 18 July 1976 performance on the uneven bars was the first-ever perfect score of 10.0 in the history of the Olympics. Except, the Swiss Timing scoreboard wasn’t built to record a 10, so her perfect score was instead displayed as 1.00.

theraconteurasaurus:

Multiple exposure shot of Nadia Comaneci’s routine on the balance beam at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.

Her 18 July 1976 performance on the uneven bars was the first-ever perfect score of 10.0 in the history of the Olympics.

Except, the Swiss Timing scoreboard wasn’t built to record a 10, so her perfect score was instead displayed as 1.00.

Věra Čáslavská, Mexico City, 1968 Born in 1942, Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská dominated gymnastics in the 1960s.  She  won a total of 22 international titles, including seven Olympic gold medals in individual events, more than any other gymnast.  Only Micheal Phelps has won more individual Olympic gold medals. Two months before this photo was taken, Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia, ending the temporary political liberalization of Prague Spring.  Věra was well known for her support of the democratization movement, as well as her opposition to the Soviet invasion.  Her political position endangered her ability to participate in the Mexico City games but at the last minute she was granted permission to travel by the government.  Once in Mexico, Věra’s performance was excellent and she won the individual vault, uneven bars, and all around.  She initially appeared to win gold in the floor exercise until the judges upgraded the preliminary score of Soviet gymnast Natalia Kuchinskaya, creating a tie.  In the end, Věra won three gold medals and two silver medals in Mexico City. For two individual medal ceremonies, floor and beam, the Soviet anthem played and Věra silently looked down.  Her quiet protest of the Soviets led the government to force her retirement from gymnastics and restrict her travel, work and sports participation. In the late 1980s, pressure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) led to the Czechoslovakian government granting Věra permission to work as a coach.  After the 1989 end of communism in Czechoslovakia, Věra fully entered public life again. She became an advisor to President Václav Havel and Honorary President of the Czech-Japan Association.  After leaving the President’s Office, she was elected President of the Czech Olympic Committee and was appointed to the IOC membership committee.  Today, Věra lives quietly in Prague.

Věra Čáslavská, Mexico City, 1968

Born in 1942, Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská dominated gymnastics in the 1960s.  She  won a total of 22 international titles, including seven Olympic gold medals in individual events, more than any other gymnast.  Only Micheal Phelps has won more individual Olympic gold medals.

Two months before this photo was taken, Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia, ending the temporary political liberalization of Prague Spring.  Věra was well known for her support of the democratization movement, as well as her opposition to the Soviet invasion.  Her political position endangered her ability to participate in the Mexico City games but at the last minute she was granted permission to travel by the government.  Once in Mexico, Věra’s performance was excellent and she won the individual vault, uneven bars, and all around.  She initially appeared to win gold in the floor exercise until the judges upgraded the preliminary score of Soviet gymnast Natalia Kuchinskaya, creating a tie.  In the end, Věra won three gold medals and two silver medals in Mexico City.

For two individual medal ceremonies, floor and beam, the Soviet anthem played and Věra silently looked down.  Her quiet protest of the Soviets led the government to force her retirement from gymnastics and restrict her travel, work and sports participation.

In the late 1980s, pressure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) led to the Czechoslovakian government granting Věra permission to work as a coach.  After the 1989 end of communism in Czechoslovakia, Věra fully entered public life again. She became an advisor to President Václav Havel and Honorary President of the Czech-Japan Association.  After leaving the President’s Office, she was elected President of the Czech Olympic Committee and was appointed to the IOC membership committee. 

Today, Věra lives quietly in Prague.

Gold medalist Olga Korbut competing in 1975

Gold medalist Olga Korbut competing in 1975