Gabby Douglas

2012 Olympic gymnastics all-around champion

Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995 in Virginia Beach, Virginia) is an American gymnast. She competed with the United States' women's gymnastics team in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She won gold medals in both the individual all-around and team competitions. (In the "all-around" competition, gymnasts do all four gymnastics activities - balance beam, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise.)

Douglas appearing at Citi Field to throw out the first pitch for a Mets-Rockies game

Personal information
Full name: Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas
Nickname(s): Flying Squirrel
Country Represented:  United States
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Height: 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m)
Discipline: WAG
Level: Senior International Elite
Years on National Team: 2010–present
Former coach(es): Dena Walker, Gustavo Moure, Liang Chow
Music: "Bon, Bon" (Pitbull, DJ Alvaro mix of "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP)

Douglas is the first African-American woman in Olympic history to win first place in the individual all-around competition.[1] She is also the first American gymnast who ever won gold medals in both the all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics.[1]

Douglas started gymnastics at age 6. Her sister Arielle, who had broken her wrist doing gymnastics, convinced their mother to let Gabby start taking gymnastics classes.[2] In October 2002, Douglas began her training at Gymstrada Gymnastics in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In July 2004, she left Gymstrada and began training at Excalibur Gymnastics.[3][4]

At age 16, Douglas made it to the Olympic Trials. She won first place and got a spot on the United States' 2012 women's gymnastics Olympic team. Her teammates were Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, and Aly Raisman. They won the team all-around gold medal, and Gabby also won the individual all-around gold medal.

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 Pucin, Diane (June 18, 2012). "Gymnast Gabrielle Douglas adjusts well to spring to the top". Los Angeles Times.[permanent dead link]
  2. Emmert, Mark (July 2, 2012). "Assist from sister sends Gabby Douglas to London". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  3. Luca, Olivia (July 7, 2012). "From her living room to London: Gabby Douglas strives for success at Olympics". San Jose Mercury News.
  4. "Gabby Douglas". NBCOlympics.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2012.

Other websites

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