Prom Queen!
This weekend Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu took part in a typical teen ritual -- she attended the prom. Now training in Colorado at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (where she also lives), Moceanu also works out at Tom and Lori Forester's nearby Colorado Aerials gym. It was the Forester's son who asked Moceanu to attend his prom. "They're just friends," Tom Forester told IG publisher Paul Ziert, "but it was something we thought would be a neat experience for her."

Moceanu, Parents End Legal Dispute

By TERRI LANGFORD
Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON (AP) — Olympic champion Dominique Moceanu and her parents have reached a financial settlement that ends a protective order against the gymnast's father.

``I certainly realize that people can make mistakes even when their intentions are good,'' Moceanu said in a statement released by her Boulder, Colo., publicist at Gold Medal Management.

``This has been an extremely difficult time for my family and I hope that we can now begin to move forward in support of one another.''

The 17-year-old gymnast, declared a legal adult Oct. 29, won a one-year court order in December that kept her father at least 500 feet away from her.

She sought the order after police said they were investigating accusations that Dumitru Moceanu, 44, tried to have two of his daughter's friends slain. He has denied the accusation.

The protective order was lifted Thursday by Judge Patricia Lykos.

Lawyers declined to elaborate on the confidential financial settlement. The gymnast, training in Colorado for the 2000 Olympics, declined to be interviewed.

Moceanu's lawyer, Ellen Yarrell, said Friday her client is ``confident that the settlement assures her personal safety and achievement of her financial goals.''

Dumitru Moceanu did not return a call Friday. His lawyer, Jimmy Phillips, would say only that ``the family is back together again.''

The family fight became public last October the gymnast sued for her independence. She claimed her father squandered the money she had earned during a 10-year professional career.

Her parents had held her earnings in a trust fund, which they administer. She did not have access to the trust until she turned 35.

Her father has said all of his daughter's earnings went into building a $4 million, 70,000-square-foot gym with his daughter's approval.

``I know that deep down my father loves me, and of course I love him, so I need to find a way in my heart to give him forgiveness,'' the gymnast's statement read. ``I hope there is a chance that someday things in my family can be normal again.''