Dominique Dawes - 1992 Olympics Team Optionals - Floor Exercise

[dahighbar]

Love me some Shannon and was a kim fan at the time but there is no way this routine should of been in the line up before either of them..SMH

[Rynryn99]

I agree with Karolyi's line up being all about his girls... I think its good now that the system has other people involved in setting up the lineup and all... even in 96 it was more fair because it was based off of how everyone did in compulsories. Dawes made an excellent lead off gymnast though, although going first hurt her chances of qualifying for any individual events. Go Dominique and listen to that crowd!!!

[MissScarlett27]

I remember watching this back in the day. STILL just incredible. As if the second pass isn't hard enough, homegirl does a punch front to do a double back. Effortlessly. W/o a beat missed. Crazy awesome!

[Ovrkyl]

When I saw that reversal at 0:31 live, my jaw dropped. She just defied the laws of physics and stunned everyone. Dayamn!!!

[kras118]

I was 11 during the '92 Olys and I remember being BLOWN AWAY with this routine! I absolutely loved how much the crowd got into it and applauded her- even though she wasn't the big name or star of the American team, the crowd recognized a great gymnast. You can even see a bunch of people giving her a standing o!

[dmann3g]

Go Dawes..really nuthin else to be said..besides gold medal worthy at the 92 Games..

[berrykrazie]

omg little Dawes she was so amazing then and just continued to get better and better.

[markoparko]

She could have easily medaled if she had made event finals.

Compulsories were never kind to her, especially early in her career.

[spiderman5402]

Donimique Daws vs. Shawn Johnson

you decide

[htownhomie06]

@spiderman5402 no contest. dawes! johnson's a gr8 tumbler but how many times has she delivered spine chilling floor exercise performances?

[spiderman5402]

of all time

Dominique Daws vs. Shawn Johnson

[Iluvasianboys]

she stuck it every time. love it!

[limzprettythang]

Clearly the best!

[AliceWithFriends]

Ohmygod! So amazing! I've never seen gymnastics like this!

[luv4cookie1]

was that last pass a double tuck or pike? anyway GORGEOUS routine caught my eye from the music to the choreo to the tumbling magnificent

[Mikizzle15]

Look at little Dom. She's so fast. lol.

[llc831]

She is the best tumbler! So grossly underscored...I think she was way before her time. With the new scoring system, I think she'd be up there with Shawn and Nastia as a #1 gymnast. I always think she got the short end of the scoring system, and certainly not the awards she deserved. How much fun is she to watch, and she has so much difficulty - so well-executed!

[skoobysnaxxx]

wow. look at how fast lil' Dawseome tumbles! Love it!!!

[12bmills]

If she made finals, she would've medalled easily!

[antoniaberry1]

and i remember watching her when i wuz 2 thats how i got into gymnastics since i 3

[antoniaberry1]

she graduated from ma skool finneytown high school

[verybadtongue]

She's great!She made the olympic team 3 times!!

[footballerswife80]

The best that ever did it.

[Hopper4546]

why cant they do hard routines like that anymore

[SteelerNationFan43]

yay for Dominique!!

[No1ZmeskalFan]

This routine, along with Kerri's optional floor were underscored in my opinion.

[jurubsmi]

This is my favorite floor routine of all time!

[ballethoney]

This is my fave routine of hers! Love her!

[trueyou2]

the early 90s and mid 90s and when I really really loved watching gymnastics on tv; now it's just so blah

[flipandfall]

I am a gymnast and sad to say I must agree with you. Gymnastics used to be something worth getting into, now it's seems watered-down and lacks the vibrancy and orginality it once had.

[trueyou2]

not sure what happened. I even use to watch the dance competitions on television as well; because it was so interesting to me but I try so hard to do it now but something is just missing from it.

[jurubsmi]

I totally agree...everyone is so focused on tricks nowadays that they've lost all the flair and creativity. People used to actually have choreography in their floor routines, now they just do a couple of kicks or turns in between tumbling passes. Sad.

[trueyou2]

I agree with you. I can't watch it for no more than like 10 minutes, the balance beam is so boring. I don't know if the 90s were the time for gymnastics on tv but where are the stars at? Gymnastics was even awesome in the 70s; though I wasn't born then but ya know what I mean!

[badlilo101]

danm that girl is goood

and she still is

[llc831]

Totally agree with everyone here. I never got how underscored she was. Check out her slip jumps, here and on beam - WAYYY past 180 degrees. Her tumbling height, difficulty, and execution - flawless. Her dance - the crowd loved it. Was it that she didn't have the name that some of the Russians did? In any case, what a badass.

[totallygothboy]

noone tumbles better.. .wow

[supremebx]

when i saw her do that double stuff i was like wow!!!!!

[lologrl92]

beautiful tumbling.

wonderful dance.

[maxy7792]

awsome dawsome!- that is her nick name

[htownhomie06]

underscored at 9.925. i think zmeskal tied with watered down tumbling. gutsu matched with a huge hop on the split leg double layout landing and two or three romanians scored better than this & none were half as good.

[allimoballi]

she looks so cute and tiny.

why doesnt anyone do any of those like both ways tumbling passes anymore?

[RikkuNeko]

Most people are too scared now days. Girls were great back then, but now the rules have changed and the judges would rather see a safe routine. Im not safe, so my coach wont make let my routines be that was.

[llc831]

but now, with the dual scores for difficulty and execution, along with no compuslories, don;t you think a gutsy tunbler with an engaging routine and fanstastic leaps like DD would have medaled in 2008? I just kept thinking that the 10 scoring system screwed her. I put her right up there with Gutsu in terms of talent and ability

[CarmelMdnightGymnast]

I agree. She would have medaled her routines would have been beyond some of the girls now I think. Im happy she was able to show off a style of gymnastics that is no longer seen.

[krell88]

i agree, which is why i'm one in few who actually like the new scoring system. it needs a little tweaking still though. I am however glad they reduced it to the top 8 skills instead of 10 now.

[dmann3g]

@llc831 what screwed her was compulsories..a round of 'gymnastics' which was to show how they were all such pretty little ballerinas..she would've easily doubled her world/olympic medal haul if gymnasts were only judged on the actual routines they'd be judged on during event finals..call me crazy but, I dont know of any sport that asks all of its athletes to be good at all of the exact same skills..then the die-hard compulsory fans wonder why gymnasts cant get credit as real athletes

[andenisa]

AWESOME!!!

[thetopdog99]

aww if she did something like this in 1996 she would of gotten gold

[puaalaaumoe]

I love routines that get the crowd going like this. I prefer watching something like this to a routine with huge tumbling and awkward dance (common today, huh? hehe!) And, that middle pass is an incredible trademark and requires some major stamina! Great job!

[hotboyxx2]

wow! thatnis so crazy

[greendayrocks07]

wow, her tumbling is amazing! like, she gets so much height!

[cocopuffy79]

I remember watching this on tv and being like WHOA!Who is this girl? Its still amazing...more entertaining than whats being done today.

The floor exercises today seem a lot less fluid than back in the early to mid 90s...lots of tumbling with weak dancing in between.

[adrion14]

these girls today cant even compare to this wow u.s. gotta step they game up

[CitySon]

I said the same thing! I'm glad Nastia Liukin & Shawn Johnson took home gold medals, but NOBODY from this year's women's gymnatics events (including the Chinese) would've been able to top Dominique in her prime; especially with that AMAZING sequence from 0:27 - 0:36! This was 16 years ago & the 2008 floor exercises pale in comparison. A serious DOWNGRADE. I mean, some of those girls were messing up on the easiest stuff & kept stepping out of bounds.

[miamivicepastels83]

agreed

[thetopdog99]

yeah the girls back then were awsome and now...ehh

[llc831]

totally agree - i also think her beam routine was KILLER - she did 3 layouts in a row, and had a straddle jump that had her legs going WAY past 180 degrees. Again, the scoring system and compulsories totally worked against her. I wish we could fast-forward her to 2008 -

[CitySon]

Dominique Dawes was always my favorite. Being the only African-American on the team, she delivered everytime & made me feel anything was possible. The girl was BAAAAAD!

[grizza]

Dominique Dawes is my favorite too, but Dawes was also on the team with Betty Okino who was also African-American. She had beautiful lines and was known for her double and triple pirouette on the beam.

[CitySon]

You're absolutely right! I forgot all about Betty Okino. She was a superb gymnast as well. When I think back to that era & compare them to what I saw in the women's gymanstic events this year, I'm like, "what the hell happened to this sport?"

[eridees]

For all Dominique Dawes fan's, check out the original, another incredible and highly under-rated gymnast whose initials are the same as Dominique's... Diane Durham! She used to go head to head with Mary Lou Retton. Love them both!

[dmann3g]

No Diane Durham vids on here...even Marylou said that Diane D was the best of her era.

[QDNYC]

I Love Dawes, she's always been my favorite!

[shanlest]

mine too!

[Rogcar90]

Really great!

[kitten112481]

This is an unforgettable routine on the floor to this day. This is what put Dominique Dawes on the map! I remember watching it when i was 11 in complete shock of her tumbling skills. long live Awesome Dawesome!

[brookenicole222]

Omg, she was adorable! I loved this routine back then and I still do. Go Dominique!!

[zx101]

She so would have gotten a medal if she was in the Event Finals!

[angel2116]

Exactly!, I believe (not sure) she outscored everyone on the U.S on floor optionals, too bad compulsuries took her out of the medal hunt.

[dyingproof]

Whoever said 'front tumbling is easier' is a moron.

Lilia was a fantastic tumbler. The only gymnast (ever) to a do a double front with a half, and she dismounted with a full in.

[dmann3g]

@dyingproof - What's moronic is the fact that a front full to punch had the same value as a full in. Like i said earlier...i rest my case.

And please don't tell me you think no one else has tried this pass because it's so 'difficult'!?!? Please...and dismounting with a full in isn't so hard when you've only done front fulls up until then.

[tmc8802]

@dmann3g How do you explain no one trying a double front with a half if not for it being difficult? Double front alone is fairly rare, but half out is unheard of. You seriously need to become more educated before you post.

Also, dismounting with a full-in is extremely difficult after 4 tumbling passes (including double front 1/2 out) and a routine that actually involved real dance and performing.

Your lack of knowledge is astounding.

[dmann3g]

It's not that serious. You can decide my intelligence all you want. I've always acknowledged Lilias talent and ability, I just think her pretty toe point got her more stans than her gymnastics. She and her dbl front 1/2 were great to me also.

[topramen06]

i was 7 when i saw this. i used to love her and shannon miller. this performance was nutz!!! go dawes!!!

[metamelody]

i remember this routine - this was ridiculously good!

[tigerbear9]

I don't understand why she wasn't in EF on floor - this was right up there with Milosovici's floor.

[goldengoddess77]

dawes ya'll!!!

[dmann3g]

She actually had the highest US optional floor score. But due to them having compulsories (which never made any sense to me, and they obviously agreed by dropping them after 96) she didn't make finals. Same thing that happened in 96, she had the highest optionals floor score n didnt originaly qualify to floor becus of comps. Her medal count would have been INSANELY different if theyd dropped comps before, instead of right after, she stopped competing. But whatever, a great career none the less!

[tomsk14]

well firstly, she did qualify in 96 and won the bronze medal....

Although I agree, Compulsories were beyond stupid and pointless.

[dmann3g]

Yes, she won the bronze, but she didn't even make the finals before replacing the injured Strug. Somehow (being whomever the media has hyped as favorite) Moceanu out qualified the rest of the team with a 9.9 start value on her floor routine, while EVERYONE else on the team had a 10 start. Gymnastics (not the gymnasts) is full of crap.

[tomsk14]

You've baffled me with Science.

[cjpatz]

i was 13 when i saw this.. good memories of younger times.. thanks for posting..

[jackmini]

saying that this routine was harder than her routine in 1996 is insane. Her routine in 1996 was a double lay-out, whip to 2 1/2 punch front, and then piked full in. It's more than comprable.

[patricj24]

Why wasn't this performace a 10

[saltlakecity2002]

She definitely should have made the event finals.

[njb782]

This routine was far superior to her 1996 exercise. Its amazing that only because she was known by the international judges in 1996 that she was a medal contender.

[vee80seven]

Absolutely agree, she was a lot smaller and more agile at this time(understandably, much like Lavinia Milosovich.

[njb782]

youre right about her size.agility. However I do think she was still capable of a routine this caliber in 1996, but the scoring system made it so easy to NOT take the risk. I thought, with the exception of Lilia, that the 1996 floor finals were 7 routines of gymnasts doing the same passes and same gymnastics/dance combos, NO originality in tumbling, and slight variation in dance.

[dmann3g]

That was baecause Lilia wasn't very strong at tumbling...she was mostly a front tumbler, which is much easier to do.

[tomsk14]

And secondly...That is the most incorrect statement I have ever heard.

Front tumbling is much harder, I wont write an essay, but the stomach muscles contract to pull legs towards the chest, not away from e.g backwards tumbling. Then, front tumbling is blind and you dont have the round off to build momentum anyway. Lilias tumbling was difficult and she was an excellent tumbler.

[dmann3g]

@tomsk14 -

In '96, a front full to punch front was worth the same as a full in...i rest my case.

[No1ZmeskalFan]

okay so if an easier skill frontward is worth as much as something hard backwards, doesnt that mean front is harder??

[dmann3g]

No, it just means that the committee watered down the tumbling code from 93-96.

I just don't consider gymnasts with multiple front 1/1 passes as power tumblers. Lilia was great, but it was clearly her lines and "dance" that brought her fx success.

[tmc8802]

Not to take anything away from her grace, Lilia was an extremely powerful tumbler and, to my knowledge, is still the only woman to have ever done a double front with a 1/2 on floor. she also finished her floor with a nice full twisting double. You can't deny her power and mastery of tumbling in both directions.

[twilliger123]

Umm, Lilia wasn't around in '92, they're not talking about '96.

[No1ZmeskalFan]

Thank you!!! I just read that previous commentand my jaw dropped!! I was a power tumbler for 15 years and I can say that Front tumbling is way harder! Not to mention a double front half out.??? PLEASE!!! And P.S. she ended with a full in!! How is that not being good with back tumbling?? lol silly people make me giggle ;)

[dmann3g]

@njb782 -

DLO, whip 2.5 punch front, full in piked, triple pirouette, the highest jumps in the building...on what planet doesn't this equal medal contender?

As for this routine above, it wouldn't have had the same s/v in '96, not to mention she was too old to be doing that choreography.

[llc831]

Ok, this will probably get me booed...but I think that Karolyi placed her too far down in the lineup. I think DD was miles ahead of Kerri Strug, yet she was lined up near her and scored similarly. I think that Karolyi was too biased towards his own gymnasts and didnt think strategically about getting DD and the US higher scores by putting her at the end or near the end of each rotation she was in. Let's face it - she and Okino were as strong, if not stronger, than Kim on beam - and I LOVE Kim

[evoandy]

totally agree. I think dominique dawes is probably the best american gymnast never to have held a major title.... She was VERY VERY close to being world AA champion at one point. I think it was 1993.... She fell on her last routine of the championships while in the lead. Very underrated gymnast.

[dmann3g]

@evoandy- She was leading the AA in 93, 94, and 96. She just couldnt mentally take the pressure off of herself after 93. But I always say she, Atler and Memmel are the most TALENTED gymnasts the US has ever had on the world stage. They could all just do so much, seemingly effortlessly.

[Mikizzle15]

@dmann3g Yeah. Dom said that her biggest problem was the fact that she would see that she was in the lead and it would freak herself out. If she didn't pay attention to the scores and that she was in the lead, she wouldn't have thought so far ahead. But she was definitely a BEAST. But the one thing she always did was pull it out for the team, even if she couldn't do it for herself.

[ants2876]

@llc831 Dawes had almost no international experience at this point in time. It was probably believed she couldnt bring in high scores from an international panel. If they would have known she could get a 9.925 going up early in the lineup beforehand, heck they might have made her the anchor on this event.

[lostlyrarose]

@llc831 I always think the person that picks the lineup shouldn't have any one on the team....

[dmann3g]

@llc831 It's a system in gym..Dawes wasn'l known enuf in 92 to be anchoring..regardless of her difficulty..besides fx. Her fx would make any judge aware of why she was anchoring, but the politics made the game about others..she went before Shan and scored higher, but didnt have Shan's resume..I just wish she had gone after cus even if she didnt qual 2 fx ef she may have gotten 1 of the highest scores during team finals..but the real tragedy is a system where she doesnt make FX EF w that routine

[bensbsd]

@dmann3g ....its still the same with the system today....i know martha is the president of the USAs gymnastics team and she will break a lot of talented and stronger gymnasts today...ull see it with this years team competing in the international games..plus they should hire a more talented choreographer for the US...they are all robotic dancers...

[TikiBoy382]

@bensbsd I agree with Choreographing...example, I can't stand watching Rebecca Bross's routines, she's so boring and very robotic...she will stand and wait frozen waiting for music que's! I'm glad that the Code of Points put a cap of 4 tumbling runs max in the routines, to encourage more dance! It just seems a lot of the US women, do not connect to their music on floor and don't know how to dance and feel the music!

[dmann3g]

@TikiBoy382 But when it comes down to it, I put Bross in the company of Dawes, Atler and Memmel as the most talented gymnasts the US has ever produced. I've been watching long enough to not care about medal hauls, but to see how amazing these girls were at doin what they did/do while making it look like 2nd nature to them. U just couldn't find a bad event for these girls..and it's soo not forced

[Mikizzle15]

@dmann3g I couldn't have said it better myself. To me a great gymnast is someone who has the total package, not just a medal count. That's why I think the gymnasts you mention are better than someone like Shannon Miller. Shannon Miller doesn't keep my attention, even though she was a good gymnast. Dawes gave so much her whole career and doesn't deserve the slack that people give her because she doesn't an individual Olympic or world gold medal.

[dmann3g]

@bensbsd - It's because the code has become too ridiculous. There are way too many requirements for these girls to go 4/4 and have the stuck landings we're used to. It's not even enjoyable to watch these days. You can see them constantly thinking on an event instead of performing. How I miss 96...

[Holycani]

@llc831 would it have really mattered? is not like the 2nd and third place scores were THAT close, a few tenths would not have made a difference.

[No1ZmeskalFan]

Yeah I pulled out the tapes just now and you are right.....I guess I was thinking of something else. But they never showed this routine on my version....I had never seen it until now...

[No1ZmeskalFan]

These were the same commentators that did the triplecast I had but they didnt show Dawes on floor....they showed the Romanian on beam and all I got was Dawes music in the background wishing they were showing it....thats odd

[gymnasticsforever95]

the unified team was on beam... listen to the commentation before her last pass...

[gymnasticsforever95]

to be more specific...it was Svetlana Boguinskaya on the beam during this routine...go to ehr optional beam routine and youwill here dawes's music...even though its the same commentators on both its because they showed this routine after it happened

[indianajay19]

I will never forget this is. That pass was amazing. And she made it look almost effortless. Those were the days....

[februarychic]

Yep, those were the days, There will NEVER be another Awesome Dawesome!!!

[godschild023]

Bravo pure genious!!!

[DemeterMuse]

Who could forget that incredible pass???

The power of THE DAWES!

^_~

[rank101]

She really was underscored. Her second pass alone more than makes up for Gutsu's split leg double layout.

[casalazar10]

I think Dawes was waaaaay underrated.

[gymnasticsforever17]

I am very surprised she was not an AAer

[icarrus4u]

Nice, very powerful tumbler!

[tomsk14]

Didnt the floor area look massive at barcelona?

[7Millionaire7]

Yeah, but probably because all the girls were like, 4'5.

[GYMANGELS]

she should have scored higher, she scored the same i think as Tatiana gutsu and she had a jump forward on her first pass, i guess Dawes was in the middle of the line up for the U.S.A and Gutsu was second to last for Unified Team. All that tumbling with those sore ankles-amazing stuff!

[Fusiondoom]

One word: WOW

[sirgio]

One of the best routines of the games. I love it!

[KajaRG]

I love Dawes... And she seemed like such an intelligent young girl too, from what I've seen of fluff pieces on her from 1992.

[saltlakecity2002]

Well, you do have to be smart to stuff like that.

[ghlover2001]

trademark stuff. one of the best american athletes...scratch that...one of the best athletes of all time. period.