I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing two Olympians who were the first in their field – Dominique Dawes and Arlene Limas. In honor of the two firsts that happened this past week in the London Olympics, Gabrielle Douglas in gymnastics and Kayla Harrison in Judo, here’s looking back at the accomplishments of Dominique and Arlene.
As part of the Magnificent Seven at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Dominique was the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics, and the first black person of any nationality or gender to win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics.
Arlene made history when she became the first American to win a gold medal at the 24th Olympic Summer Games in Seoul, Korea in taekwondo.
Keith Barraclough 