Olympic Champion: Still the Same Gabby!
by Ronald C. Jordan
At a time when, like most young girls her age, she should have still been celebrating turning 16, contemplating the excitement of boys and dating, and anticipating getting her driver’s license, Gabrielle Douglas was facing the biggest challenge of her young life.
Ignoring the sea of television cameras recording her every move as she stepped out onto the grandest stage Olympic competition has to offer, Gabrielle, or Gabby as she has come to be known, had only one thing in mind.
Poised and reflective as she prepared to perform the last of four routines as a member of the U.S. gymnastics team competing in the 2012 Olympics, she looked straight ahead—her lips moving in silence as though she were talking through her routine in advance.
“I've always relied on my faith,” Gabby would later explain. “Every time I watch the footage from the Olympics, I can see my lips, and they're moving because I'm praying. It's always been a part of me. I've always used it during training and competitions.”
Gabby was on her way to making history by winning two Olympic gold medals. She was about to become the first black woman, and only the fourth American, to win gold in the individual all-around in women’s gymnastics. Her body ached—the result of hours upon hours of intense training and practice, and injuries she suffered leading up to the competition. Her heart ached, too, due to the loneliness of being more than a thousand miles away from her family for nearly two years, while she was in training. And more recently came the personal attacks—hurtful criticism from insensitive onlookers who paid more attention to Gabby's hair than her athletic prowess.
BVOV : 13
