Dawes Essay Topics

The sport Gymnastic derived from the early Greek civilization. It consisted of a series of exercises that included jumping, running, swimming, throwing, wrestling and weightlifting. Fitness was a highly valued sport in ancient Greece and men and women participated in gymnastic exercises vigorously. After Rome conquered Greece the gymnasium was used to prepare their troops for war but after the fall of Rome gymnastic became a form of entertainment. In the mid 1770’s the sport began to modernize with the addition of more events. Friedrich Ludwig Jahn introduced events such as the horizontal bar, the parallel bars, the balance beam, and jumping events. He along with many others is known as the “Fathers of modern gymnastics”. In the 1800’s the …show more content…
She is the sibling of her younger sister Danielle Dawes and older sister to Don Dawes Jr. who also participated in the Olympic Games. Dominique became a ranked gymnastics at the young age of 10 at her first U.S. National Competition in 1988. From there she began to compete internationally in countries such as Australia and became known both nationally and internationally. She placed 3rd in the junior division at the 1990 U.S. National Championships. It was not until 1992 that Dominique was awarded a spot on the United States Olympic team after she places 4th at the Olympic trials. Dawes competed in her first Olympic competition after battling with tendinitis in both ankles and Osgood-Schlatter disease during her pre-Olympic training. Throughout her performance she left her heart on the mate as she tried new moves during your balance beam routine in the competition and winning the hearts of the crowed as she performed an amazing floor exercise that gave her a score of 9.925 which helped the team win a Bronze medal. But most important it was the moment Dawes became the first African American women to win an Olympic gymnastics medal. Dawes fought hard to live up to her newly gained title and it showed at every competition. Her performances at the 1993 and 1994 World Championships are best known. At these events she had a mistake during a performance and just like every other …show more content…
Dawes went through the competition with a perfect performance. The team won the gold medal after each gymnast performed with winning in mind. They all left their heart on the floor, beams, and bars. When receiving their medal each of them had the brightest smile that lit the whole gymnasium. The moment that medal was placed around Dominique Dawes neck will forever go down in history. She has paved the way for young African American gymnast. Gabrielle Douglas is a result of Dawes success. There are thousands of young girls that dream of following in Dawes as well as Douglas