“Awesome Dawesome” opens up about Biles pulling out of the Olympics and her own efforts to change the culture of gymnastics.
Three-time Olympian Dominique Dawes is among a handful of Americans who might know what it’s like to be Simone Biles, bowing out of the games in Japan when the world expected her to keep winning gold medals. Dawes, now the mother of four young children and owner of a gymnastics academy, says every young woman in the spotlight has the right to do what Biles did. “She needs to do what is best for Simone,” Dawes told Zenger in an interview. Biles, considered the “Greatest of All Time” in her sport, pulled out of the team event finals (she later also pulled out of the individual finals), citing mental exhaustion. Her decision signaled a shift in the cutthroat culture of American gymnastics. “At the end of the day, she is the one who has to live her life. Just like [Japanese world tennis No.1] Naomi Osaka, who made the decision to not partake in a press conference because she was concerned about her mental health, athletes need to be able to say no,” Dawes said. “If they feel that it’s unhealthy for them, they need to be able to step away.” Dawes was a member of the “Magnificent Seven” team that won gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. She was also the first Black athlete of any nationality—male or female—to win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics, and the first Black athlete to win an individual Olympic medal in the floor exercise. A lot has changed in 25 years, she said. Her successors, like Biles, are more empowered than she was to stand up for their own interests. “When I think about the Olympic Games, it brings me back to the level of sacrifice and commitment and what it took to earn a spot on that Olympic stage,” Dawes said. “We did what was told of us.
