GAITHERSBURG — If this current cold wave drags on any longer and the local utilities continue to experience power drains, they'd be well-advised to hook up a couple of generators to the super-charged Dominique Dawes.
Sure, at 4 feet 11 and 88 pounds, there's not a lot of Dawes, but what there is of her is always moving, always flexing, always stretching for the next task.
Even as she's sitting for an interview, Dawes, one of America's premier gymnasts and a local favorite in Sunday's Reese's World Gymnastics Cup at the Baltimore Arena, is using the arms of the chair as parallel bars to levitate herself above the chair's surface.
"I don't know what it is," said Kelli Hill, Dawes' coach. "That's a nervous habit. She feels she has to stretch. It's one of those
things."
Nervous? What on earth could this 17-year-old dynamo have to be nervous about? After all, Dawes is ranked fourth in the world after her performance in the 1993 world championships in Birmingham, England, and shared a bronze medal with the American gymnastics team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Dawes placed second in the 1993 national championships, winning individual competitions in the vault and the balance beam.
Her rise through the national and international ranks has been consistent since she burst on the scene in 1988, but Hill, her coach for the past 11 years, wishes that she would appreciate just how special a talent she has.
"It [lack of arrogance] makes her better in a lot of ways, and it makes her adorable," Hill said.
"She's not all caught up in it, but on the other hand, there's this flip side that I don't think she ever has the confidence in herself that maybe could be there if she'd grow her head a little bit. There's no cockiness there at all. None."
Dawes' apparent lack of confidence stands in stark contrast to the record of gritty and courageous choices she already has made.
For one, Dawes, who has a 3.66 grade-point average, is taking on a taxing course load at Gaithersburg High that includes physics, trigonometry, pre-calculus and honors English, in addition to five hours of training every weekday and additional training hours on weekends.
Plus, Dawes, who is black, has chosen a field where there are few like her, though she will be joined this weekend by Betty Okino, who was also a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.
