Gymnastics

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Recommended: Race, ethnicity and diversity in sports

Throughout sports history in America, minorities have had a sever disadvantage to succeeding. While the country has come a long way in integrating capable athletes in professional sports, there are several sports that have a white dominance. One rarely sees a minority on the swimming team. Caucasians dominate the golf and hockey leagues as well. One of the most prominent sports that is working on overcoming their racial barrier is gymnastics. Gymnastics is a white dominant sport, not only in America but around Europe as well. Ever since Dianne Durham was first African American to start competing on an elite level in the 1980s, there have only been a handful of black gymnasts recognised on the national level. It took until 1996 for a black gymnast to win a gold medal at the Olympics. Dominique Dawes competed in Atlanta and made history for being the first black person of any nationality to win a gold medal in gymnastics. While gymnastics has made progress including African Americans, they still have prejudices to overcome.
Today, two black women stand out as prominent figures in gymnastics, Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles. Douglas, at age 16, became the first woman of colour, of any nationality, to win a gold medal in the individual all around event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She garnered a great deal of attention for her performance, but the media focused on her race as well. Many reported on her making history, being the first black woman to win gold medals in both individual and group all around events in the same year. She also received a lot of criticism on her hair. Many people took to social media to express disapproval to Douglas’ “unkempt” hair. Criticism included that it was not styled or that she had not put in a relax...

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... United States. They could also grant scholarship money to those who show promise to allow them to pursue gymnastics without the monetary burden on the family. This solution would encourage many girls to participate in the sport and the success rate would be fair.
While there is little diversity in many sports, gymnastics is starting to make giant leaps toward multi-racial integration. Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles are creating waves in the gymnastics community, sparking national pride with each gold medal. They are leading the fight against racism in gymnastics by proving that they are just as good, if not better than the traditional gymnasts due to their hard work and persistence, combined with raw talent. They are inspiring girls everywhere to follow their dreams, no matter what obstacles get in the way. They are the American heroes who made gymnast history.

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