Olympian Dominique Dawes On Being An ‘Inspiration’ For Simone Biles & Jordan Chiles (Exclusive)

Dominique Dawes won gold at the 1996 Women’s Team Finals at the Olympics but that was her second games. At 15-years-old she competed for Team USA at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Now she is looking back at her first Olympics while exclusively chatting to Access Hollywood. “There was just so much pride and so much hard work, commitment and dedication going into it that I thought I would feel relieved, but it was more anxiety as I got there,” she told Access. “If I could do it all over again I wouldn’t because that journey’s made me who I am today.” Dominique also talked to Access about being a trailblazer for women of color in the sport of gymnastics. “I’m thrilled to have been one of the trailblazers to open doors for young women of color in the sport of gymnastics because when I was watching gymnastics there was not a lot of young women of color unfortunately televised on the national or Olympic level,” she said. “So, to plant those seeds of inspiration for the likes of Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles is truly an honor.” The Olympic games kick off with the opening ceremony on July 26 and will wrap up on Aug. 11. They will be followed by the Paralympic Games from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8. You can watch Team USA compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics starting July 26 on NBC and Peacock.