Hundreds of county residents filled the lobby of the Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center on Tuesday to witness the unveiling of a statue of Olympic gold medalist and Silver Spring native Dominique Dawes.
People of all ages filed into the center–which opened in February–to hear speeches from Dawes and County Executive Marc Elrich about the significance of the bronze statue. The statue based on an iconic image of Dawes at the 1996 Olympics holding a middle split on the balance beam and reaching out with one arm.
“I want to celebrate our Olympic legend who is here today, an incredible athlete from Silver Spring. Good things come out of Silver Spring,” Elrich said to Dawes and the crowd during the unveiling. “This statue is a symbol of your dedication to pursue your dreams and by commemorating you and your contributions to the Olympics, this statue will help motivate many athletes.”
Dawes, 47, told reporters that Tuesday’s sculpture unveiling was “truly a highlight,” especially knowing that it would “inspire and empower the next generation of young girls and boys and young people of color to realize their fullest potential.”
Dawes, a Silver Spring native, was part of the “Magnificent Seven” women’s gymnastics team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, known for bringing home the first gold medal for the U.S. in the women’s team competition. She was the first Black woman on the U.S. gymnastics team and the first Black gymnast to win an individual Olympic medal–in the floor exercise at the Atlanta games. Dawes is a three-time Olympian, having also competed in the 1992 Barcelona and 2000 Sydney Olympic games.
In 2019, Dawes was among the first round of inductees to the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame. Olympic gold-medal swimmer Katie Ledecky of Bethesda also was in that first class.
A county resident, Dawes is now the owner and chief executive officer of the Dominique Dawes Gymnastics & Ninja Academies, which has locations in Rockville and Clarksburg. She has been outspoken about changing the toxic culture in gymnastics that she and other gymnasts experienced.
In the 1990s, she noted, gymnasts were “silenced, we were robots, we were told what to do and we just did it and we really didn’t speak out.” Now the new generation of gymnasts are “demanding that there’s changes in the sport and I think that’s the best for the future generations,” Dawes said.
The sculpture, which sits in the front lobby of the recreation and aquatic center, was created by artist Brian Hanlon, a classily trained master sculptor, according to a county press release. Hanlon has created more than 300 public and private art pieces in his career, many of which are prominent sports figures such as Yogi Berra and Shaquille O’Neal.
Hanlon told MoCo360 that the statue took about a year to construct, beginning with brainstorming which apparatus and image he and Dawes wanted to depict, sculpting the statue out of clay, making a mold from the clay figure, and then casting the mold in bronze to make the pieces of the sculpture. Hanlon said the bronze pieces are then melded together to form the statue, which weighs about 2,500 pounds.
Choosing a pose to depict was the most important part of the process, Hanlon said.
“That particular moment for women’s sports and Dominque’s career is the pinnacle,” Hanlon said. “And not only did she break color barriers and is a pioneer in her field, but I think because [the 1996 Atlanta Olympics] was televised in a way that other Olympics weren’t … it became such an important moment for youth and the history of women’s sports.”
County Council members Gabe Albornoz (D-At-Large), Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-Large) and Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) attended the unveiling. Credit: Elia Griffin 
Hundreds of county residents filled into the lobby of the Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center Tuesday afternoon to watch the unveiling. Credit: Elia Griffin 
Children at the recreation center’s summer camp made posters celebrating Dawes and the unveiling of the statue. Credit: Elia Griffin 
Dawes (left) with her four children (center) and husband (right) Jeff Thompson. Credit: Elia Griffin 
During her speech, Dawes said that being a mother to her four children was better than any Olympic gold medal. Credit: Elia Griffin 
Attendee gazes at the statue during Dawes’ speech. Credit: Elia Griffin 
After her speech, Dawes’ children embraced her with hugs. Credit: Elia Griffin
After the unveiling, fans waited in line to meet with Dawes, take photos and get an autograph from the Olympian.
Lindsay Luke told MoCo360 that she walked an hour from the Forest Glen neighborhood of Silver Spring to attend the unveiling.
As Luke waited in line for a meet-and-greet with Dawes, she said she was at the 1996 Olympics when Dawes competed. Although she did not have a ticket to see the gymnastics competition, Luke was able to watch the U.S. team practice “through the curtains in the Georgia Dome while we were watching volleyball.”
“It was awesome and they did such a great job,” Luke said. “It’s so great that she stayed in the county and has still kept up and been involved. And this is just a beautiful building and the statue to honor her in this way is great.”
After the meet-and-greet, two young gymnasts who train at Hill’s Gymnastics Training Center in Gaithersburg–the gym that produced successful gymnasts including Dawes and Boyd’s Kayla DiCello–flipped and tumbled on the lawn outside of the center.
Leah Nelson, 8, of Gaithersburg, and her friend, Bianca Custis, 8, of Silver Spring, compete in gymnastics and hope to go to the 2032 Olympics.
Leah said she liked the statue of Dawes because it made her feel “passionate.”
When asked about seeing women’s gymnastics become more diverse since she was on the U.S. Olympic team, Dawes said she believed she played a “small role” in helping diversify the sport. She credited medal-winning U.S. Olympians Gabby Douglas for “paving the way,” Simone Biles for dominating the sport and Suni Lee for winning gold in the women’s all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Dawes said she would be cheering on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team at the Olympic Games in Paris this month “every step of the way.”
“I am so grateful that I am retired watching these women today,” she said. “I marvel at their talent, I marvel at their ability. I marvel at their character and their strength.”