Dominique Dawes was the reason I wanted to do gymnastics as a little girl. She doesn’t get the recognition that she should. She was a great gymnast and made the Olympics three times. Yet she was often in the shadows of her teammates.
That was my girl right there. I've loved gymnastics since I was a little girl with Nadia Comaneci, then to finally see a young black girl go so far - I was here for it!!!
Me too still love her I feel they should have been mentioning her whenever Simone Biles won an medal if it wasn't for Dominique Dawes there wouldn't be a Biles. They should give Dominique Dawes her flowers today.
@@xana5649 Betty Okino along with Dominique Dawes were a part of the USA gymnastics Olympic team in 1992. She and Dominique were the first black girls to become olympic gymnasts to represent the US.
@@xana5649 The original commenter was referring to Dawes having an impact to the likes of Gabby and Simone since she was one of the first female black Americans to reach the highest in the sport. So I indicated Betty as well because she and Dominique were the first Americans of black ancestry to win an Olympic medal in 1992. Betty along with Dawes provided necessary representation for black females at the highest level, which was never seen before. Betty had a short elite career, she also provided inspiration to Sanne Weavers as well because Sanne used her eponymous skill, the triple turn in her beam routines.
If Dominique dawes & simone Biles were in the same age group and training together ... the moves they'd pull would astound the world ... Dominique loved a challenge
She was bad! The thing I liked about this the most was..her body was so different from what is was in 1996..she now had a womans bod and was still great!
@@alishashadows9599 that’s the very reason you should care because they are both black instead of saying ones better. That’s just putting them against one other when they weren’t even in the same COPs
She was always a much better gymnast than Miller or Dominic M. but was hardly regarded as such. Thanks to RU-vid, we can really see the extent of her skill and dynamism.
Kareem Bertrand way better than Moceanu and I preferred her to Miller, but they couldn't be any different. Dawes was far more powerful and dynamic than Miller, if only she managed to stick her vaults at the 93/94 worlds, she'd be a household name to the average American.
Dawes always got the loudest applause and she is a figure immortalized in American pop culture. The public always chose her even if commentators/the sport didn't give her the credit she deserved.
I agree that she was a better gymnast, certainly capable of harder and more dynamic skills. The reason she was not regarded as such is because she didn’t have the results, she choked when it counted. History is kind to records and achievements , like medals and titles. Therefore, Shannon Miller will go down as one of the greatest ever. I don’t think anyone was trying to disregard Dawes as better it’s just at some point she had to win something , and didn’t.
They underscored her a lot back then. Let's be real here...it was an era where they were not ready to accept an African American in a top spot. Bill Cosby brought this issue to light and a news commentator wrote a big article about her and that race was the major factor back then. The crowd booed the judges many times and she received standing ovations. However, she paved the way for other African American girls that followed.
Actually, the first African American woman to make a US Olympic gymnastics team was Luci Collins who made the 1980 team but due to the US boycott of the Olympics in Moscow, never got to compete. Dianne Durham was one of the first gymnasts trained by the Karolyis when they defected to the US. She was on track to make the 1984 Olympics when she had to pull out of day two of Olympic Trials due to an ankle injury on Vault. She was the first African American to win a National Championship in 1983. Betty Okino and Dominique Dawes were the first African American women to compete in the Olympics in Artistic Gymnastics in 1992 in Barcelona and first to medal winning the team bronze. Dominique was the first African American female gymnast to win a World Championship medal in 1993 with 2 Silver medals (BB and UB). In 1996 Dominique Dawes became the first African American female gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal when the 1996 team won team gold. She was also the first African American woman to win an individual Olympic medal with a Bronze medal on FX. In 2011, Gabby Douglas was the first African American to win a gold medal at the world championships with a team gold medal and in 2012 she was the first African American woman to win the All Around Gold Medal at the Olympics and the first African American woman to win an Olympic Individual Gold Medal in gymnastics. In 2013 Simone Biles became the first African American gymnast to win an individual gold medal at the world championships with the all around gold medal.Dominque Dawes is the ONLY female gymnast in US history to compete at 3 Olympics.
Thank you for dropping the facts! Just took a screenshot to keep a record of this for my daughter who just read it aloud. She is a Level 4 gymnast and looks up to each of these phenomenal women. Melanated women were being scrutinized in gymnastics for such a long time! I still remember the awesome floor routine Dawes did in 96 I believe it was. It was flawless and her team mates did not even look happy for her. She persevered and opened doors that are giving young goddesses like mine opportunities to display their greatness today.
Wonder why we're going back to 2000 as we approach the 2012 Olympics? I havent seen a gymast of this caliber since then. Good Luck to the 2012 US Gymnastics Team! I miss you Dominique!!!
While I love this performance, her best beam performance imo was her 1994 beam performance @ US Nationals. It was a tad bit more difficult and pretty much flawless.
*This was my girl…when I was younger I loved watching figure skating and the Olympics! I had Dominique’s posted on my wall, I looked up to her a great deal! She was and still is an outstanding athlete!!!!*
longbranch11207 I know. If Dawes would have added her signature full in dismount and perhaps a double turn, she could have been in the Olympic beam finals. She also needed more difficulty on her floor and vault. Her low start values really hurt her at the Olympics but she was capable of so much more.
@@JamesFrew1 so true i think because she started training at the last minute.Had she gone back into the gym a year before the games the results would have been different
2012 gymnasts certainly deserve their respect. But nobody is doing beam routines like this presently. I have not seen the new generation gymnasts connecting elements like 0:50 and 1:15. I also think today's judges ease up in penalizing balance checks and bobbled landings. Oh well, just hope the US keeps up the great gymnastics tradition. These athletes are incredible!!
william taylor I think she should have won 2 World Championship had she not faltered on V TWICE :(( And she would have won the 1996 Olympics AA title had she not faltered on FX. She's so fantastic, but made errors on some major competition. She remains my favorite American gymnast. And a beautiful person.
no time, she more graceful, dats why she stciks so well cuase she aint trying to b no power house, wen dem girls land, they don't stick cuz they landing with too much powere
y'all have to know that in 2000 we did not have the depth that we have now... American gymnastics wasn't really doing anything as a team. They had to pull Dominique Dawes and others from the magnificent Seven out of RETIREMENT to compete at the 2000 Olympics. The way Bela was cheering for her all night he wanted her on that team.
Oooooooh yes Go BABY Lady jump with toe touched ❤ heart Blessed Athelete Go #DominqueBawes 💕 ❤ 💕 ❤ and that. Balance Beam Mount by @DOMINIQUEDAWES STAY BLESSED mount how u do it its HEAVEN SENT VIA JESUS CHRIST GOD THE FATHER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT IN YOU ❤ AND YOUR DETERMINATION AND #BLESSEDCOUCHING BLESSED 💕 ❤ ❤ ❤
She definitely watered down this routine… No full twisting double back on dismount, no 3rd layout step out, double turn, or straddle jumps… but then again, she only trained for about 4-5 months for these Olympic Trials
Omg she was SO GOOD on the beam 🤯 That HAS to be better than Simone Biles. I'm sorry but it was! That was absolutely flawless 😧 WOW that was beautiful! This is the best beam routine I've ever seen hands down. She was solid.
Their styles are completely different!..Dominique approaches it gracefully like a dancer and Simone gives you pure athleticism even when doing the same moves
