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DOMINIQUE DAWES - United States of America
2009 INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTICS HALL OF FAME
Inducted as a member of the Class of 2009
1992 Olympics
Bronze: Team
1996 Olympics
Gold: Team
Bronze: Floor Exercise
1993 World Championships
Silver: Uneven Bars, Balance Beam
1994 World Championships
Silver: Team
1996 World Championships
Bronze: Balance Beam
A true all-around talent, Dominique Dawes has gone
on to even greater accomplishments since concluding
her competitive career after three Olympics.
Born Nov. 20, 1976, in Silver Spring, Md., Dawes,
who was coached throughout her career by Kelli
Hill, made her first Olympic team in 1992, when
the U.S. won a bronze.
Four years later she was part of the Magnificent
Seven that won the Olympic gold in Atlanta, where
she also became the first African-American to win
an individual Olympic gymnastics medal – bronze
on floor exercise. After a brief retirement, which
included a role as the character Patty Simcox,
in “Grease” on Broadway, Dawes returned
to training and made the 2000 Olympic team.
Known for her dimpled smile and sensational back-to-back
tumbling passes on floor exercise, “Awesome
Dawesome” was simply dominant in 1994, when
she won the all-around and all four apparatus titles
at the U.S. championships. Over her career, she
amassed 15 individual U.S. titles, the most of
any American woman.
Though untimely mistakes ruined her chances of
a major all-around title at both the 1993 World
Championships and 1996 Olympics, Dawes always bounced
back. Perhaps that is why she has been so successful
outside the world of competitive gymnastics since
her retirement. Dawes has served as President of
the Women’s Sports Foundation and worked
as a television commentator. She covered the 2008
Beijing Olympics for Yahoo! Sports and inspires
young gymnasts through clinics. She also does corporate
speaking, where her motivational message is titled “Envision:
Reaching Your Full Potential.”
Surely, Dominique Dawes knows what she’s
talking about.
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