Delaware State University will launch its annual Kickoff to Wellness on Jan. 19 featuring guest motivational speaker Dominique Dawes, a multiple Olympic gold medal gymnast who currently serves as co-chair of President Obama’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition.

The motivational address will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, in the Education and Humanities Building Theater on campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Ms. Dawes is the only modern American gymnast to win medals in three different Olympics – 1992, 1996 and 2000. She also is the only African-American to win a medal in a single gymnastic event.

Fans across the U.S. and around the world remember her as a member of the gold medal-winning “Magnificent Seven” at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where she also won a bronze medal as she wowed the crowd with her stunning performance in the floor exercise, becoming the first female African-American gymnast to win an individual medal.

Throughout her career, Ms. Dawes has won more National Championship medals than any other athlete -- male or female -- since 1963, as well as numerous World Championship medals. One of her greatest feats came when she swept all four events and won the All-Around title at the 1994 National Championships.

Ms. Dawes continues her passion for sports and for helping people achieve their dreams by being a mentor and a coach. Since 2010, she co-chairs President Obama’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition. She is winner of the Henry P. Iba Citizen Award, the National Gymnastics Federation’s Sportsperson of the Year, and a finalist for both the AAU Sullivan and Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. Working with the Girl Scouts of the USA, she helped launch “Unique Me! The Girl Scout Self-Esteem” program.

Ms. Dawes’ guest presentation is sponsored by the DSU Division of Student Affairs, the Delaware Center for Health Promotions, AstraZeneca, and Nemours Health and Preventive Services.