Dominique Dawes Shares Interesting Thoughts on Sha’Carri Richardson Olympic Suspension

Dominique Dawes has some interesting thoughts on the suspension of track star Sha’Carri Richardson. The three-time Olympic Gold medalist appeared on Cuomo Prime Time on Wednesday and talked about Richardson, who was suspended for testing positive for marijuana. Many people are not happy that Richardson will miss the Olympics because of the positive drug test. But Dawes believes the Olympic committee made the right decision.

“Well, Chris [Cuomo], like you said, rules are rules. And you’re speaking to an Olympic gymnast, and we are very particular and we are rule followers for most cases.” Dawes said, as reported by Yahoo Entertainment. I do think, you know, because it is a current rule, they need to follow the rule, and unfortunately that does mean that Richardson will not be competing in these Olympic games.”

Dawes went on to explain why she is all about following the rules. “My last Olympic games, there were rules out with regards to the age that an athlete had to be,” Dawes said. “However, Chinese gymnasts were underage, and that truly affected myself and my teammates from getting on the podium and getting a bronze medal during the 2000 Olympic games. So I’m a rule-follower.”

‘When learning about the positive drug test, Richardson went on the TODAY show and explained that she used marijuana to deal with the death of her mother. She was looking to compete in her first Olympics after posting a 10.86-second time in the 100-meter race in the Olympic trials in June.

As for Dawes, her days competing are over but she is still close to the sport of Gymnastics. She is an executive producer of the docuseries Golden which takes a look at some of the top gymnasts in the country doing everything they can to make the Olympic team. Golden is currently streaming on Peacock.

“I want people to take away from the docuseries the truth of elite gymnastics,” Dawes said exclusively to PopCulture. “I want them to see the level of commitment and sacrifice. This isn’t we wake up and we start training for a few years and we make an Olympic team. A lot of these young girls started the sport of gymnastics like me when they were 6 years old and there is a whole commitment throughout their childhood to even get a chance at making an Olympic team.”