If someone were to ask a fellow gymnast which American gymnast is a “legend” in the sport, chances are the person being asked would give her name. Simon Biles.

But first Dominique Dawes, an African-American who made history on the instrument, won an Olympic medal in the sport, and is one of the few gymnasts to win medals in three different Olympic events.. In fact, the famous “sports sculptor” Brian Hanlow created a statue of her that will adorn the Silver Spring.

In a few weeks, the entertainment center with its impressive pools in Silver Spring will have the eyes of visitors “stolen” by a statue of Dominic Dawes. The four-time Olympic champion will be featured on the balance beam wearing the US National Team swimsuit. Of course, the former athlete could not have imagined that she would become a statue in her hometown when she won her first title in sports at the age of nine.

“I am a person who can go through life with and without awards. For me, the awards are my children,” was her reaction when Montgomery County announced that it would honor her with a statue made by the famous Brian Hanlow.

Hanlow created over 400 works. He specializes in bronze sculptures, reliefs on a large scale. His work belongs to the modern school of American realism and he is the official sculptor of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Rose Bowl. In his work, he uses water-based clay instead of oil because he believes it is “more stable and less flexible” and therefore movement or action is easier to convey.

When Hanlow pitched the idea to Dawes, the timid former athlete hesitated. To convince her, he told her that this statue would inspire future generations. Indeed, the winner of four Olympic medals and four more World Championships is a source of inspiration.

Dawes was born in 1976 and has been doing gymnastics since the age of six. When she was in high school, she didn’t hesitate to leave her hometown to be closer to the training ground. From an early age, she showed her talent and at the age of 15, in a match between the US and Japan teams, she received an “excellent ten” from the judges in floor exercises.

In 1992 he participated in the Olympic Games in Barcelona. She suffered from tendinitis and inflammation in her knee, but the pain did not show on her face when she did impressive exercises.. The United States won the bronze medal, while Dominique Dawes and Betty Okino became the first African-American women to win an Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics.

In 1993, she won silver medals on balance beam and uneven bars at the World Championships, in 1994 Team USA placed 2nd in the corresponding event, and at the 1996 World Championships, Dawes moved up to 3rd on the podium. In 1995, due to wrist and ankle injuries, she did not compete.

In 1996, she competed in the Olympics with the US team, which went down in history as the “Magnificent Seven” because it was the first US team to win a gold medal in an Olympic gymnastics competition.

Dawes performed her lifts without major errors and was the only member of the team to have her entire score count in the all-around. The gold she won in the team competition made history as the first black woman to win a gold medal in gymnastics. In the individual competition, although she was considered the favorite for several medals, some mistakes in her programs did not allow this. As a result, she won only bronze in floor exercises.

In the next two years, the Olympic champion is out of the championship. In those two years, Dawes received hundreds of letters from fans asking him to return to the sport. In 1998, he will wear again… the championship tights, he will qualify and win a place in the American instrumental team again..

At the Sydney Olympics, the US came 4th, but ten years later they took the bronze medal because China was revealed to have competed in the 2000 event with an underage athlete.