But on this day, in July 2012, in front of thousands of spectators inside London's North Greenwich Arena, and millions watching around the world, 16-year-old Gabby Douglas had chosen not to reflect on those things. Instead, she remembered the encouragement from her mother, Natalie Hawkins, in the months leading up to the competition—particularly when Gabby decided she wanted to quit.
“Mom reminded me that I was living out my dream, and that if I quit, I would never get this moment back again, that it would be gone forever,” recalls Gabby. “She told me that life was not easy, and that I had to fight and refuse to quit.”
There was one other thing that came to Gabby’s mind. It was a prophecy someone had sent to her that was given by Kenneth Copeland at the end of 2011 that spoke about the year 2012.
“It’s going to be a year of great joy for those who know joy,” the prophecy said, in part. “It’ll be a time of marvelous breakthroughs. This is a time of victory. It’s a time when people begin to realize that My WORD is a living WORD, that My Spirit is the living Spirit, and that you are My voice in the earth. And your voice is the voice of victory.”
Gabby had taken those words to heart, realizing that God had a plan for her life. She even underlined portions of the prophecy that she said “related directly to things that were going on in my life.” Little did she know that before the day was over, she would see much of what was spoken through Brother Copeland come to pass in her life.
In her final performance, Gabby captivated the crowd as she flipped and twisted her way through a near-perfect floor routine. When the scoreboard lit up, she had garnered an overall score of 62.232. Five minutes later, Russia’s Viktoria Komova delivered an equally impressive performance. But with an overall score of 61.973, about three-tenths less than Gabby’s score, it would not be enough to take first place.
Triple Honors
Gabby Douglas had just made history, becoming the first African-American gymnast to become the individual all-around champion; the first American gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics; and the only American all-around champion to win multiple gold medals.
While Gabby and her teammates celebrated their victory on the floor of the arena, her mom, sisters Arielle and Joyelle, and brother Johnathan, rejoiced in the stands.
14 : BVOV
