Dominique Dawes
Isn’t the nickname ‘Awesome Dawesome’, well, awesome? Dawes, aka flying squirrel, made her Olympic debut in 1992 in Barcelona, where she settled for a team bronze. She returned to the Games in 1996 and helped team USA win the gold medal. Dawes is the first African-American woman who has won an individual medal in gymnastics at the Olympics, helping open the door for other stars like Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles. From 2004 to 2006, Dawes served as president of the Women’s Sports Federation and in 2010, she was appointed to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition by President Obama.
Dominique Dawes
Shawn Johnson
One of the stars at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Johnson has become a household name thanks to her supreme talent and bubbly personality. She claimed gold for her beautiful performance on the balance beam, aside from adding three silvers to her collection. The following summer, she won season eight of Dancing with the Stars and around three years later, America’s Sweetheart returned for the show’s All-Star edition, where she finished as the runner-up. After Johnson left gymnastics, she published three books and is now running a really successful YouTube channel together with her husband, Andrew East.
Shawn Johnson
