Olympic gymnast calls for a divorce

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 613.

A teenage gymnast who won an Olympic gold medal for the USA wants a 'divorce' from her parents.

Dominique Moceanu, seventeen, wants to be legally declared an adult to stop her parents having any control over her or her money. 'I kill myself training and going to school,' said Moceanu. 'They haven't been working since 1996. Where does their income come from? Me.'

She added that the problems were more than just about money. 'I never had a childhood,' she said. 'I always had to be in the gym. I used to think, 'Don't you guys know anything besides gymnastics? Can't you be my mom and dad instead of me being your business?'

Ex 24 2.27 Listen to a psychologist talking about child sports stars and answer these questions.

1 Which two sports do they talk about?

2 Does the psychologist think the child star phenomenon is a positive one? Why or why not?

2.27 Listen to the interview again and put the points below in the order they are mentioned.

□ Child sports stars can have health problems when they get older.

□ Child sports stars do not have a normal childhood.

□ It's important for tennis players to be successful before they are sixteen.

□ Sometimes, it is the parents of the sports star who get the money.

□ Sports stars are getting younger and younger.

The first child sports stars appeared in the 1970s