Focused on faith and family, Olympic great wants her children to be 'champions in life'
April 15, 2025 at 4:17 p.m.
BALTIMORE OSV News – When asked if she missed the glory days of the Olympics and winning world championships, three-time Olympian and Hall of Fame gymnast Dominique Dawes flashed her famous "Awesome Dawesome" smile and answered, "That door is closed."
It is more important now for all of us to "stay active, enjoying the love of movement," she said in an on-stage interview during the recent Women of the World Festival Baltimore at the Rita Rossi Colwell Center in downtown Baltimore.
Gymnast Dominique Dawes competes on the balance beam during the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials in Boston Aug. 20, 2000. Dawes, a three-time Olympian and Hall of Fame gymnast, said during an April 5, 2025 interview in Baltimore that today as a mom, it's more important her four children "be champions in life" rather than aim for the Olympics. Dawes, 48, headlined the one-day Women of the World Festival Baltimore. (OSV News photo/Brian Snyder, Reuters)Today, the 48-year-old wife and mother of four – the youngest a set of twins, a boy and a girl, plus two older girls – is focused on them being able to enjoy their childhood.
The hardest thing in her life thus far, she told her interviewer, WJZ CBS News Baltimore anchor Denise Koch, wasn't missteps in competitions, but the miscarriage of her and her husband's first set of twins at 11 weeks.
Raising her children "is not about getting them on top of the Olympic podium to win this piece of hardware that I brought for … you all to see," she said, passing around her Olympic gold medal that her team won during the historic 1996 Atlanta games. "It's more important to me as a mom for them to be champions in life."
This formula, she admitted unapologetically, most likely will not produce Olympians because the training is too grueling.
Dawes, who headlined the April 5 WOW Festival, also spoke about how her Catholic faith is "everything" to her.
Hosted for a third year by Notre Dame of Maryland University, the event highlighted the achievements of women and girls while examining the challenges confronting them.
The WOW festival was founded in 2010 by Jude Kelly of the United Kingdom, who flew in for the event. Kelly is an internationally acclaimed pioneer for social progress and master of St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford. WOW Baltimore is part of the global WOW movement that has brought together more than 5 million people at more than 150 festivals and events across six continents.
Dawes was presented with Notre Dame of Maryland's Go Beyond Excellence Award for her achievements that transcend sports. They include offering gymnastics for children in an empowering environment, motivational speaking, advocacy for small businesses, broadcasting and more.
In the interview with Koch, Dawes spoke very candidly about the importance of gymnastics and the toxic culture that has plagued the sport. That culture prompted the founding of her Dominique Dawes Gymnastics & Ninja Academy that offers children a safe, fun and supportive environment for honing their physical skills and building confidence rather than future Olympians.
It was breaking news, too, when Dawes announced that new leases had just been signed to establish two additional academies, one in Ashburn, Virginia, and another in her hometown of Silver Spring, Maryland. They will join her existing three Maryland locations in Clarksburg (opened in 2020 during the global pandemic), Rockville (2023) and Columbia (2024).
Dawes and husband Jeff Thompson started the academy, she said, "because we want to do things the right way" as a result of "the enormous amount of abuse that I went through in the sport for 18 years: physical abuse, emotional abuse, … and for a number of my teammates, sexual abuse.
"Many of you may remember the name Larry Nassar," she continued. "People tell me, don't bring up his name, but I have to bring it up because he was … someone that I knew for 10 years of my childhood, and that monster … saw the pain that many of us were going through" to achieve perfection, "and he took advantage of it."
From 1996 to 2014, Nassar was the team doctor of U.S. Women's National Gymnastics. He remains in federal prison following convictions for crimes against more than 500 victims.
Dawes described her own childhood as "a very difficult one, a very volatile one." As such, her parents decided she could go live with her coach.
Directing her comments to parents in the audience at that point, Dawes said passionately, "Do not let your children move away and live with their coaches! You birthed them, you raise them."
After her third Olympic Games, Dawes said, she found herself drawn not to the spotlight, but to silence.
"I sat in Catholic Churches. They are always open," she said in response to a question about her Catholic faith from the Catholic Review, Baltimore's archdiocesan news outlet. "And I would sit in the Church and instead of listening to the noise of the world, I would sit in complete silence and wait to hear from him (Christ)."
Those quiet moments became a turning point. What began as a place of refuge soon became something deeper – a path toward a faith that now anchors every part of her life.
Dawes said Catholicism is "truly everything to me."
"I was raised in a Baptist family," she said. "My grandmother, who is no longer here, was Catholic, and … not allowed to practice her faith.
"I always felt a yearning and a draw to the Catholic faith because of my grandmother," Dawes shared.
Her connection to the Church deepened not just through prayer, but through a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary.
"That really is what opened my heart to being led to convert to Catholicism, and also the love of Mother Mary. I always yearned for a mother. I don't know anyone that wouldn't yearn for a mother, and I found that completeness in her. … That is really what has saved me throughout this 48-year journey in life, and that is what our utmost priority is in our household," she said.
Despite her Olympic legacy, Dawes keeps the focus on her faith, not her accolades.
"When you come into our house," she said, "there's no Olympic gold medal on the wall" or other memorabilia like signed leotards. "These are all tucked away in storage."
Life for her family today is "about our faith, because, at the end of the day, those are the things I can hold onto."
Carole Norris Greene writes for the Catholic Review, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The Church needs quality Catholic journalism now more than ever. Please consider supporting this work by signing up for a SUBSCRIPTION (click HERE) or making a DONATION to The Monitor (click HERE). Thank you for your support.
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BALTIMORE OSV News – When asked if she missed the glory days of the Olympics and winning world championships, three-time Olympian and Hall of Fame gymnast Dominique Dawes flashed her famous "Awesome Dawesome" smile and answered, "That door is closed."
It is more important now for all of us to "stay active, enjoying the love of movement," she said in an on-stage interview during the recent Women of the World Festival Baltimore at the Rita Rossi Colwell Center in downtown Baltimore.
Gymnast Dominique Dawes competes on the balance beam during the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials in Boston Aug. 20, 2000. Dawes, a three-time Olympian and Hall of Fame gymnast, said during an April 5, 2025 interview in Baltimore that today as a mom, it's more important her four children "be champions in life" rather than aim for the Olympics. Dawes, 48, headlined the one-day Women of the World Festival Baltimore. (OSV News photo/Brian Snyder, Reuters)Today, the 48-year-old wife and mother of four – the youngest a set of twins, a boy and a girl, plus two older girls – is focused on them being able to enjoy their childhood.
The hardest thing in her life thus far, she told her interviewer, WJZ CBS News Baltimore anchor Denise Koch, wasn't missteps in competitions, but the miscarriage of her and her husband's first set of twins at 11 weeks.
Raising her children "is not about getting them on top of the Olympic podium to win this piece of hardware that I brought for … you all to see," she said, passing around her Olympic gold medal that her team won during the historic 1996 Atlanta games. "It's more important to me as a mom for them to be champions in life."
This formula, she admitted unapologetically, most likely will not produce Olympians because the training is too grueling.
Dawes, who headlined the April 5 WOW Festival, also spoke about how her Catholic faith is "everything" to her.
Hosted for a third year by Notre Dame of Maryland University, the event highlighted the achievements of women and girls while examining the challenges confronting them.
The WOW festival was founded in 2010 by Jude Kelly of the United Kingdom, who flew in for the event. Kelly is an internationally acclaimed pioneer for social progress and master of St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford. WOW Baltimore is part of the global WOW movement that has brought together more than 5 million people at more than 150 festivals and events across six continents.
Dawes was presented with Notre Dame of Maryland's Go Beyond Excellence Award for her achievements that transcend sports. They include offering gymnastics for children in an empowering environment, motivational speaking, advocacy for small businesses, broadcasting and more.
In the interview with Koch, Dawes spoke very candidly about the importance of gymnastics and the toxic culture that has plagued the sport. That culture prompted the founding of her Dominique Dawes Gymnastics & Ninja Academy that offers children a safe, fun and supportive environment for honing their physical skills and building confidence rather than future Olympians.
It was breaking news, too, when Dawes announced that new leases had just been signed to establish two additional academies, one in Ashburn, Virginia, and another in her hometown of Silver Spring, Maryland. They will join her existing three Maryland locations in Clarksburg (opened in 2020 during the global pandemic), Rockville (2023) and Columbia (2024).
Dawes and husband Jeff Thompson started the academy, she said, "because we want to do things the right way" as a result of "the enormous amount of abuse that I went through in the sport for 18 years: physical abuse, emotional abuse, … and for a number of my teammates, sexual abuse.
"Many of you may remember the name Larry Nassar," she continued. "People tell me, don't bring up his name, but I have to bring it up because he was … someone that I knew for 10 years of my childhood, and that monster … saw the pain that many of us were going through" to achieve perfection, "and he took advantage of it."
From 1996 to 2014, Nassar was the team doctor of U.S. Women's National Gymnastics. He remains in federal prison following convictions for crimes against more than 500 victims.
Dawes described her own childhood as "a very difficult one, a very volatile one." As such, her parents decided she could go live with her coach.
Directing her comments to parents in the audience at that point, Dawes said passionately, "Do not let your children move away and live with their coaches! You birthed them, you raise them."
After her third Olympic Games, Dawes said, she found herself drawn not to the spotlight, but to silence.
"I sat in Catholic Churches. They are always open," she said in response to a question about her Catholic faith from the Catholic Review, Baltimore's archdiocesan news outlet. "And I would sit in the Church and instead of listening to the noise of the world, I would sit in complete silence and wait to hear from him (Christ)."
Those quiet moments became a turning point. What began as a place of refuge soon became something deeper – a path toward a faith that now anchors every part of her life.
Dawes said Catholicism is "truly everything to me."
"I was raised in a Baptist family," she said. "My grandmother, who is no longer here, was Catholic, and … not allowed to practice her faith.
"I always felt a yearning and a draw to the Catholic faith because of my grandmother," Dawes shared.
Her connection to the Church deepened not just through prayer, but through a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary.
"That really is what opened my heart to being led to convert to Catholicism, and also the love of Mother Mary. I always yearned for a mother. I don't know anyone that wouldn't yearn for a mother, and I found that completeness in her. … That is really what has saved me throughout this 48-year journey in life, and that is what our utmost priority is in our household," she said.
Despite her Olympic legacy, Dawes keeps the focus on her faith, not her accolades.
"When you come into our house," she said, "there's no Olympic gold medal on the wall" or other memorabilia like signed leotards. "These are all tucked away in storage."
Life for her family today is "about our faith, because, at the end of the day, those are the things I can hold onto."
Carole Norris Greene writes for the Catholic Review, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The Church needs quality Catholic journalism now more than ever. Please consider supporting this work by signing up for a SUBSCRIPTION (click HERE) or making a DONATION to The Monitor (click HERE). Thank you for your support.