that a gymnast had swept the competition. She went on to lead the American team to a silver medal at the World Team Championships in Dortmund, Germany posting the third highest all-around score in the process. 1996 Dawes struggled through a difficult 1995 riddled by wrist and ankle injuries. She finished fourth at nationals and was forced to sit out the World Championships that year. At the 1996 World Championships, Dawes missed out on a medal on the uneven bars but tied Liu Xuan for a bronze medal on the balance beam. At the 1996 U.S. National Championships Dawes swept all four event finals for the second time in her career making her the only gymnast ever to accomplish this feat twice. Dawes also finished first at the Olympic trials, earning a berth on the 1996 Olympic team at the age of 19. Dawes planned to attend Stanford University in fall 1995 but could not receive an athletic scholarship as she turned pro to train for the 1996 Olympics. 1996 Olympic Games The team, later nicknamed Magnificent Seven, dominated the team competition. A key member of the team, Dawes performed without serious error and was the only team member to have all eight of her scores count towards the total. Along with Shannon Miller, Jaycie Phelps, Dominique Moceanu, Amanda Borden, Amy Chow and Kerri Strug, Dawes claimed her gold medal as part of the first American team to take the Olympic title. Another first, she became the first black woman of any nationality to win an Olympic gold in gymnastics. Later in the week, however, Dawes lost yet another opportunity to win a major all-around title. Going into the competition, she was considered one of the heavy favorites to medal. She was ranked sixth overall among all competitors after the team event, and her scores from team optionals were the highest on the American team and the second highest overall. Dawes led the competition after two rotations, with Shannon Miller right behind her. Both gymnasts were on Floor Exercise for the 3rd rotation. Miller had a substantial mistake in her routine, knocking her out of the medals. On the middle tumbling pass of Dawes's floor routine, she under-rotated for fear that she might step out of bounds; she sat down the tumbling pass (and went out of bounds anyway) causing her position to plummet in the standings. NBC cameras zoomed