In honor of Black History Month, MadameNoire is sending a daily salute to the African American women who inspire us every day of the year. Today we’re recognizing the black women athletes who make us proud everywhere from the tennis courts to the track, the balance beams, and the swimming pool.

Source: WENN

Venus and Serena Williams

Venus and Serena Williams took the tennis world by storm when the two brown girls from Compton with braid and beads showed up on the courts and dominated their opponents. Venus has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association on three separate occasions, and when she was named so in 2002 for the first time, she became the first African American woman to achieve be given then title during the Open Era. Venus is also a four-time Olympic gold medalist and as of February 2013, is ranked number 22 in the world in singles.

Like her big sister, Serena has also ranked up a number of World No. 1 rankings — five to be exact since July 2002.  Serena is the only female player to have won over $40 million in prize money and she is regardedas one of the greatest tennis players of all time, having won 30 Grand Slam  titles and four Olympic Gold medals.

Isn’t weird when two people from the same immediate family look nothing alike..only to discover they have a lookalike out there in the world? Nowhere is this more apparent than with the public faces we know as celebrities. We revealed some Black celeb look-alikes in our first story with eerie resemblances, and we managed to uncover a few more – 10 couples to be exact!

Source: Taletela

Seriously, can you tell who is who here? Kinda freaky but Chaka Khan must be Nicki Minaj’s long lost aunt or something because how else can you explain the striking resemblance? (Chaka Khan is on the right).

Back in 1996, we were captivated by Dominique Dawes. The first African American gymnast to win a gold medal with her team, dubbed “The Magnificent 7.” Today, Gabrielle Douglas became the second African American to take home the gold, and the first to win not only the gold team medal but the gold individual all around. Fox Sports sat down with Dominique Dawes to get her thoughts on Gabby’s performance. See her teary reaction below.

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Source: WashingtonPost.com

A black girl hasn’t won an individual medal in gymnastics at the Olympics, since Dominique Dawes’ won a bronze-medal in 1996. However, 16-year-old Gabrielle “Gabby” Douglas is aiming to make history in the 2012 games.

The 5 foot, 94-pound gymnast nicknamed “Flying Squirrel” is originally from Virginia Beach, but moved to Iowa when she was just 14 to train with Liang Chow, the coach of 2008 gold medalist Shawn Johnson. She was a member of the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the team finals at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Now, she is looking to compete in the Olympics for the US Team.

The Washington Post reports:

Douglas, who prefers to be called “Gabby,” won the gold medal on the uneven bars and got edged by just two-tenths of a point for the all-around gold by defending champion Jordyn Wieber at the USA gymnastics national championships in May.

Next comes the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, Thursday through Sunday in San Jose, where 15 women and 15 men will vie for just five spots each on the London-bound teams. Wieber and Douglas appear certain picks.

Douglas’s forte is the uneven bars, a traditional weakness of the U.S. women, flying around the bars and delighting in difficult release moves. She’s equally lithe and athletic on the balance beam. And after falling at nationals, which cost her the all-around title, she showed formidable resolve in hopping back on and completing her routine with no trace of nerves.

Pressure, Douglas explains, has never made her “chicken out.” It only drives her to be better.

“Kind of like Superman!’” she says with a laugh.

Black female athletes are strongly represented in the Summer Olympics, but mostly in track & field, so it will be awesome to see some representation in gymnastics at the Olympics this year. Dominique Dawes was 15 when she went to the Olympics for the first time. She and Betty Okino, another African-American gymnast, both became the first African-American females to win an Olympic gymnastics medal that year in 1992. Here’s hoping Gabby Douglas makes the Olympic team this year and brings home a gold.

What’s your favorite Summer Olympics sport? Do you watch gymnastics?

Alissa Henry is a freelance writer living in Columbus, OH. Follow her on Twitter @AlissaInPink

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Famous gymnast, Dominique Dawes, is lending her time and her celebrity in the fight against diabetes.

In a recent release Dawes explained the reasons why she’s spreading awareness about a disease that affects 3.7 million African Americans:

With a history of diabetes in my family, I am aware of the severe effects of the disease and am very pleased to assist in educating Americans about the importance of early detection and appropriate treatment,” Dawes said.

To read more details about her advocacy and look and pictures and video from her Olympic competitions, head over to Black Voices.com.