Who is “Awesome Dawesome” Dominique Dawes, former American Olympic gymnast?

Dominique Dawes is a former United States Olympic gold medalist, who first came onto the global scene in 1992. She had a stellar career in gymnastics, and has focused on giving back to her community and the next generation later in life.

Dominique Dawes participated in three Olympics for the United States; in 1992, 1996 and 2000. Her most memorable performance came when the games were held in Atlanta in ’96, as she helped bring home the gold medal in the Team All-Around event. The Olympics website also shows that she won bronze medals in Barcelona and Sydney in 1992 and 2000, respectively.

According to the Olympics website, she is one of only three American gymnasts to compete in three Olympics in their career. The other two were Linda Metheny and Muriel Davis-Grossfeld.

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Dominique Dawes is also a trailblazer, as she was the first black American female gymnast to qualify for the Olympics back in 1992. According to a piece on WBUR’s website, Dawes received thousands of letters from African-American parents and grandparents telling her that she was an inspiration.

Dawes was part of an American team that is well regarded in Olympic history. Dawes was part of the group known as the Magnificent Seven, which also included Dominique Moceanu, Shannon Miller, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Jaycie Phelps and Amanda Borden.

Like most gymnasts, Dawes retired from competition at an early age in life. She was only 24 when she competed in her third and final Olympics. Dawes found some other things to pursue, such as modeling.

Dawes appeared in the Broadway play version of “Grease”, and was also in a music video for one of Prince’s song, called “Betcha By Golly Wow”.

Despite experiencing a bundle of success at an early age, Dawes does not look back on the United States gymnastics culture fondly. On a podcast with Lesley Visser in 2022, she confessed that she was frightened by her coach Kelli Hill in the 1990s. Hill allegedly threatened to send Dawes to an infamously gruesome training program if Dawes complained about her methods.

Dawes told Today’s website that she initially said that she would never consider enrolling her daughters in gymnastics because of the rigors of what she had to go through. However, she also said that she’s changed her tune as the years have gone on, because gymnastics can also be a springboard to other positive habits in life.

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At the 1996 Olympics, Dawes remembered dealing with intense pressure to perform on home soil. WBUR’s website wrote that she suffered an emotional breakdown before reaching the visible platform. Details include Dawes dropping down to her knees and crying, complaining of feelings of loneliness.

Having performed at gymnastics’ highest level, Dawes certainly had credible opinions when it came to the situation Simone Biles found herself in during the 2020 Olympics. Dawes understood Biles mental health struggle, telling WBUR, “The pressure of fans and friends and family, I’m sure eventually got to her. She’s a professional athlete and it can be a little overwhelming at times.”

Dawes had quite an interesting situation happen to her in 2023. She posted on Instagram that she had left her gold medal from the 1996 Olympic Games in an airport bathroom. Fortunately, the medal was sent back to her, and she shared the triumphant reunion with the world.

Dawes started her own gymnastics academy, which opened its doors in July 2020. In addition to giving her students top-of-the-line training, she also wanted the space to be a safe one for kids to express themselves.

The academy is based in Clarksburg, Maryland. The academy’s website states, “we understand the importance of gymnastics as a sport, but we also recognize the toxic culture that has plagued the sport in the past.”

Dawes told Today that she doesn’t really have the time to do her own exercise, but chasing her own children and those at the academy keeps her physically active.

Dawes also told Today that when she was training for the Olympics, everything she did was for herself. In her present-day life, everything she does is for the people around her.

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