Dominique Dawes, the first African-American to win an Olympic medal in gymnastics and a member of the \u2018magnificent seven\u2019 at the 1996 games, will meet with students at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Sept. 19.<\/p>\n
Dawes will meet with community members and faculty from the School of Public Affairs students beginning at 7:30 a.m. Friday, followed by a visit to Liberty High School. She will return to campus at for a class presentation, a lunch address to student leaders, a tour of the UCCS campus and a meeting with UCCS Mountain Lion athletes during a women\u2019s soccer game.<\/p>\n
The images of Dawes are of a pint-sized gymnast twisting and tumbling her way to Olympic glory, then victoriously raising a bouquet of flowers with her teammates as the United States team \u2013 forever known as the \u2018magnificent seven\u2019 \u2013 received its gold medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
But nearly seven years after her latest Olympic feat, she has become much more than a champion gymnast.<\/p>\n
Dawes, 31, is an accomplished motivational speaker, broadcaster, national spokeswoman, Broadway performer, part-time coach and gymnastics clinician who also conducts self-esteem and fitness workshops. She says that while competing in gymnastics was such an important part of her life for so many years, championing other causes has become her focus now.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople always ask me what my most memorable moment was in my career, and I always answer by saying, \u2018My most memorable moments continue to happen today,\u2019\u201d Dawes said. \u201cWhen I have the opportunity to inspire someone to envision more for their lives or to reach their full potential, I try to capture it.<\/p>\n
I try to impress in young people that it\u2019s not about the glamour of the gold, or the endorsements or reaching a certain salary, but it\u2019s more important to make a difference in someone else\u2019s life. That\u2019s what I think makes you a more fulfilled person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dawes was not only the first female African-American gymnast to win an individual medal, but also the only U.S. gymnast to compete in three modern Olympic Games. She was best known for her up-and-back tumbling past that consisted of 11 flips in a row, tumbling from one end of the floor to the other. One of her most memorable achievements was at the \u201996 Games, when she tumbled and danced her way to a bronze medal in the floor exercise.<\/p>\n
After her competitive career wound down with an appearance in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Dawes earned a degree in communications from the University of Maryland and set out to put her education and the fame associated with her Olympic success to good use. She has done work in broadcasting \u2013 commentating from national and international competitions \u2013 but she has focused a large portion of her attention on motivational speaking and campaigns to support women and youth\u2019s self-esteem and other health and wellness issues.<\/p>\n
Dawes has been involved in motivational speaking for 11 years, talking to schools and groups of young people about health, wellness and building self-esteem. She recently developed a 30-minute motivational CD aimed at teens and tweens titled \u201cEnvision: Reaching Your Full Potential\u201d to get her message out to more people.<\/p>\n
Capitalizing on a platform that has allowed her to capture the attention of millions of people, Dawes has served as a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of America\u2019s Uniquely Me program, Dove\u2019s Campaign for Real Beauty and the American Heart Association\u2019s Choose to Move program. She serves as a past president of the Women\u2019s Sports Foundation and on the athlete committee for USA Gymnastics as well as Sesame Street\u2019s Health Advisory Committee. While the majority of her work is aimed toward women and youth, Dawes also speaks to corporations and non-profit organizations on leadership skills, goal-setting and teamwork. She has served as an event host or master of ceremonies at many events as well.<\/p>\n
Between those duties, Dawes also works as a part-time coach with young athletes and offers a fundamental gymnastics clinic, in which she travels to gym facilities and provides a full day of gymnastics instruction and motivation for young aspiring gymnasts.<\/p>\n
Dawes began competing in gymnastics at the age of 6 and spent the better part of 20 years in a gym \u2013 but she can\u2019t envision doing that for the rest of her life. She said she has found a new purpose and passion, and that is working to improve the lives of others and sharing the story of her trials and triumphs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat motivates me now is realizing that this is my passion \u2013 teaching and speaking about the issues that are near and dear to me are my passions,\u201d Dawes said. \u201cKnowing that I can make a difference, whether it\u2019s through writing, coaching, public speaking or teaming up with certain non-profits or initiatives that corporations have \u2013 knowing that I can make a difference in someone else\u2019s life \u2013 is what motivates me.\u201d<\/p>\n
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado, and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The University offers 30 bachelor\u2019s degrees, 18 masters\u2019, and four doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 8,000 students annually.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dominique Dawes, the first African-American to win an Olympic medal in gymnastics and a member of the \u2018magnificent seven\u2019 at the 1996 games, will meet with students at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (Full Press Release)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pressreleases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}