Gymnast Moceanu Gains Independence

Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu and her parents ended a legal battle Tuesday when they agreed she would be given her legal and financial independence.

The 17-year-old Moceanu, a member of the 1996 gold-medal Olympic team in Atlanta, ran away from home in Houston, then filed a lawsuit last week seeking to be declared an adult because her parents allegedly had squandered the fortune she earned in sports.

In a joint statement, Moceanu and her parents said they had resolved their differences after meeting Tuesday and an agreement settling the matter would be presented for a judge’s approval today. Her attorneys said the settlement would give Moceanu the independence she sought.

Moceanu said her parents, Romanian immigrants Dumitru and Camelia Moceanu, robbed her of her childhood by driving her to gymnastics success, then spent all the money she had begun earning in the sport as a 10-year-old.

The amount of money in question was not known, but her attorneys said she earned nearly $500,000 last year alone.

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Former New York Giant linebacker Lawrence Taylor is back in drug rehabilitation in the New York area, hoping to beat a cocaine habit, avoid prison and protect his standing for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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Mike Tyson is facing another legal challenge--this one from a Las Vegas police officer who claims Tyson struck him during a melee in the ring after his aborted fight with Evander Holyfield.

The lawsuit filed by Thomas Moyer claims the officer was hit by Tyson in the chest as he tried to restrain him in the aftermath of his disqualification for biting Holyfield’s ears.

Pro Basketball

The NBA and the players’ union resumed bargaining but limited themselves to non-economic issues.

Personal conduct clauses, player discipline and marijuana prohibition were among the topics discussed at the four-hour meeting in New York.

The league, which has already canceled the first two weeks of the season, is expected to announce further cancellations this week.

“We’re trying to salvage as much of the season as possible,” union director Billy Hunter said. “I’m optimistic we’re going to get a deal. I can’t say it’s going to happen this week.”

Miscellany

Direct broadcast satellite service DIRECTV has reached an agreement with the NCAA and CBS Sports to air CBS-produced telecasts of out-of-market games during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on a pay-per-view basis, providing access to all of the games in the first three rounds for the first time. . . . Boris Becker began what could be his last tennis tournament in Germany with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Dutchman Sjeng Schalken in the Eurocard Open at Stuttgart. Becker is contemplating retirement. . . . Nigeria routed Cameroon, 6-0, and Ghana defeated the Republic of Congo, 4-1 in overtime, claiming two of the last three berths in next year’s Women’s World Cup soccer tournament in the United States. . . . Super-bantamweight boxer Ken Katagiri of Japan died of a brain injury two weeks after he was knocked out by Fusaaki Takenaga.