At the Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center (SSRAC), Montgomery County erected a statue honoring one of the area’s own Olympians, three-time gold medalist Dominique Dawes. The statue was unveiled on July 23, just days before the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The 47-year-old retired gymnast told The Washington Informer, “I grew up minutes down the road so it’s truly an honor. It’s very humbling.”
She went on to say that the statue isn’t just about recognizing her work; it’s also about inspiring young people to pursue their aspirations in the face of challenges. Brian Hanlon spent a year creating the sculpture, which was inspired by a photo from the Atlanta Olympics.
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Dawes remarked, “It’s wonderful just to know that when young boys and girls walk by that statue they’ll have some seeds of inspiration and empowerment planted in them. They’ll read a little bit about my journey, and, hopefully with that, understand and realize that anything is possible for them. There were many highs and lows in my career but it was the journey along the way that got me to where I am today and I just want them to realize that it is possible for them as well.”
A native of Silver Spring, Dawes is the first Black woman to be a part of the United States Olympic gymnastics team and win an individual Olympic medal, winning gold medals at the Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000 games.
Having taken her skills around the world, Dawes, a 2019 Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame inductee, has sewn into the next generation of athletes from the DMV.
She is the owner and CEO of Dominique Dawes Gymnastics and Ninja Academy with two locations in Montgomery County– Clarksville and Rockville— and plans to open a new site in Howard County’s Columbia, Maryland opening late this summer.
Ahead of the Paris Olympics, she told NBC Washington of the USA gymnastics team, “Team USA is going to do extremely well. I do hope they bring home a gold medal. Simone Biles making it to her third Olympic games– I was the last female gymnast to do that in America and so it’s exciting to know that she’s going to follow in my footsteps.”
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said Dawes’ statue was erected to inspire rising gymnasts and her community as a whole.
“The fact that she was the first Black gymnast says a lot about how much they managed to keep people out of the sport. And so, she had to go through a lot to get there,” Elrich told The Informer. “Today she mentioned that 80% of the athletes competing are people of color and from the United States. So we’ve gone from very much exclusivity to much more inclusion. It’s a big journey for us and you know we want kids to come in here and see her statue and say ‘I can be that.’”
