Athletes

A former Women's Sports Foundation President and current member of the Foundation's Athlete Relations Committee and Government Relations Committee, Dominique Dawes is a three-time Olympic gymnast (1992, 1996, 2000). As a member of the 1996 Olympic women's gymnastics team that clinched the first team gold medal for the United States, Dawes won an individual bronze medal in the floor exercise, making her the first African-American to win an individual gymnastics event medal. Dawes placed first in the all-around competition at the Olympic team trials that same year. She swept the U.S. national gymnastics championships in 1994 and 1996, winning the gold medal in all four event finals. At the 1994 U.S. national championships, she won gold in the all-around competition. Dawes was named USA Gymnastics' Sportsperson of the Year in 1994 as well as the United States Olympic Committee's Sportswoman of the Month for March and August of that year. At the 1992 Olympic Games Dawes and her fellow gymnasts captured the bronze medal in the team competition. Known for her powerful and dynamic tumbling, Dawes scored her first 10 in international competition on the floor exercise at the United States/Japan dual competition that same year. Dawes was honored as a nominee for the 1995 Women's Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year Award. In 2005, Dawes was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Outside of competition, Dawes performed on Broadway in the musical "Grease" and lent her expertise as an athlete by becoming a television commentator. At the 2002 NCAA national gymnastics championship, she provided on-air reporting with CBS Sports and commentary and analysis at the Big 12 Regional tournament with FoxSports Net. Returning to her roots, Dawes coaches gymnastics privately at Hill's Gymnastics in Gaithersburg, Md., where she grew up training.