DOVER — It has been 16 years since Dominique Dawes was that wide-eyed, awe-inspiring gymnast who was a part of the gold-medal winning “Magnificent Seven” at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

While Dawes, now 35 years old and far removed from her 18-year career in gymnastics, is not tumbling and twisting and captivating a national television audience these days, she is still seeking to serve as a light of inspiration.

Dawes, who now serves as a motivational speaker, spoke to a near-capacity crowd that was gathered at Delaware State University as she helped the school launch its “Kickoff to Wellness” event at the Education and Humanities Theatre on Thursday night.

Dawes, a native of Silver Spring, Md., certainly knows a thing or two about invigorating others.

She served as a message of inspiration after she won a bronze medal with a stunning performance in the floor exercise in Atlanta in ’96, becoming the first black female gymnast to win an individual medal in the Olympics.

Dawes stressed the importance of trying to live a good, healthy lifestyle at DSU and to not only focus on the outer person, but the inner person as well.

“I think it’s important that young people understand the importance of vitality versus vanity,” Dawes said. “In today’s society a lot of the focus is on vanity, it’s about looking good, it’s about beautification, it’s about not accepting yourself and wanting to change. I want to change that mind-set to be more focused on vitality, sustaining a good, long life, a healthy life and a productive life.”

Most of the crowd seemed to be impressed by Dawes’ words.

“I think she was very motivating, especially to the young women,” said Holly Phillips, a 27-year-old DSU alumnus who now serves as the school’s new student orientation coordinator. “I think she’s a good example to look at and really how to strive through life and a lot of common-sense principles that I think we should pay more attention to more often.”

Harry Hudson, a 19-year-old freshman at DSU, thought there were several things that Dawes spoke about that he can apply to his life.

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“It was real positive. She had a lot of great points about eating habits and things,” Hudson said. “Things like, don’t neglect what we like to eat but just have a limit on certain things. I also liked how she said, ‘Don’t care about what people say about you, just be you.’”

Dawes realizes that her past life in the spotlight helps her gain a platform with a wide spectrum of audiences, from corporate executives to small business owners, women’s organizations to youth service organizations.

“Me being a three-time Olympian and doing the sport of gymnastics for nearly 18 years I obviously was in the gym working out nonstop, so I got it,” said Dawes, who has served as a co-chair on President Obama’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition since 2010. “And there’s a lot of young people that are maybe not involved in competitive sports but they, too, should understand the importance of physical activity, fitness and nutrition.”

Dawes added that she’s possibly the biggest introvert she knows, so speaking in front of an audience is not something that comes second nature to her.

“I would have never imagined that I would be a public speaker because I always say that I’m not a people person,” she said. “I’m the biggest introvert that you would know. But it’s something about being with young people and adults and knowing I can impact someone’s life in a positive way, it really gives me a thrill and has created such a passion for me.”

Even Dawes is quick to admit that she’s come a long ways from that wide-eyed gymnast back when a gold medal was the only thing in the world that mattered. But she is not totally separated from the sport of gymnastics.

She still hosts FUNdamentals with Dominique Dawes — one-day gymnastics clinics for competitive level gymnasts of all ages where she focuses on fundamentals, goal-setting and mental toughness.

Dawes may be a little bit older now, but she is quick to embrace her age.

“I think now at 35 I have a little bit more wisdom, a little bit more maturity and it almost comes off as more motherly, but tough motherly, for me and I just hope I can change someone’s life in a positive way,” she said.

For Dawes, that appears to be more important than gold these days.