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Flash Quotes

Dominique Moceanu, USA (1^st Place):

"I’ve always dreamed of this moment. I was always hoping this would happen someday. I’m coming back after a really rough time and after what I’ve been through, it means so much more."

"I was very emotional, besides the Olympics, individually, this means so much to me. Coming back after what I’ve been through knowing that I’ve been through so much. It hit me right at home and touches me a lot. It made me very happy."

"I’ve been sick the last couple of days. I had a fever last night, but I just try not to think about today and do the best that I can know that if I hit I should place somewhere [in the top three]."

"My coach (Luminita Miscenco) has really, really helped me so much with everything, with my outlook in life and outlook on everything in general. She put me back on track, and I couldn’t have done it without her. She’s so close to me, she’s like my sister, and my best friend. I could never forget her."

"There were a couple of things I could have done better, but I am pretty happy with everything I did."

MARIA OLARU, Romania, Silver Medalist (2^nd Place):

As relayed via Coach Octavian Belu

" After the uneven bars and the beam, I was too relaxed and very confident, the floor and the vault are the best apparatus for me, I was over confident and I paid. I learned that one event can make a difference."

Q: Will you be doing anything different in the individual events?

"I hope to be in the finals on the vault and the floor."

Q: Was jet lag a problem?

" Yes, this is a problem, not only for us…I woke up 4 or 5 times during the night because now in Romania it is 7 hours ahead. We need a few days to adjust to the difference in time and we arrived two days ago, and it was not enough time."

Simona Amanar, ROM (3^rd Place):

Q: Are you happy with your performance overall?

"I am not really satisfied with the way I performed today. It has been a difficult week because of graduation and examinations back home in Romania. I have only been able to make one training [session] a day lately, so I know it’s possible to perform better."

Q: After you fell on the beam, you had to go first on the floor exercise on the next (third) rotation. Was it difficult to regroup so quickly?

"In gymnastics, you have to compete with your best performance and your total energy, no matter if it’s the first exercise or the last. It wasn’t hard to get refocused, but it was very important to come back and get a good score on the floor."

Q: Did you feel that with the last event, the vault, being your best that you still were in contention heading into the final rotation?

"I felt going into the competition that it would be very difficult to begin with my weaker events; the uneven bars and the beam. Once I got through those events, I felt very comfortable being able to finish with the floor and the vault. I knew I still had a chance."

Q: There have been rumors that you may be retiring soon. Is this possibly your last competition?

"I have no plans to retire now. I hope to continue competing."

Q: Was it difficult to adjust to the time difference?

"No. It’s part of international competition. The last couple of days, I felt training went really well. I made no mistakes on the beam, but I fell today. I was very relaxed and confident today, and the conditions were very good, but I made some mistakes.