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Revision as of 18:30, 2 August 2012

Gabrielle Douglas
Full nameGabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas
Nickname(s)Gabby, Brie, Flying Squirrel
Country represented United States
Born (1995-12-31) December 31, 1995 (age 28)
HometownVirginia Beach, Virginia
Height4 ft 11 in (1.50 m)
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
Years on national team2010–present
GymChow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute – West Des Moines, IA
Head coach(es)Liang Chow
Former coach(es)Dena Walker, Gustavo Moure
MusicBon Bon – Pitbull (Floor Exercise 2012)
Medal record
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team
Gold medal – first place 2012 London All-Around
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Tokyo Team
Pacific Rim Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Everett Team
Gold medal – first place 2012 Everett Uneven Bars
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guadalajara Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guadalajara Uneven Bars

Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnast. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was the all-around gold medalist, as well as winning team gold as a member of the US Women's Gymnastics team.[1]. She also won gold with the US team at the 2011 World Championships.[2]

Martha Karolyi, the National Team Coordinator for USA Gymnastics, nicknamed Douglas the "Flying Squirrel" for her aerial performance on the uneven bars.[3][4][5]

Personal Life

Douglas is the daughter of Timothy Douglas and Natalie Hawkins.[6] She began training in gymnastics at age six when her older sister, Arielle, convinced their mother to enroll her in gymnastics classes.[7] When she was eight years old, Douglas won an all-around gymnastics award for her level at the 2004 Virginia State Championships.[8] At age 14, Douglas moved from her home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to live with a host family in West Des Moines, Iowa, so she could train with Liang Chow, who was the coach of former world and Olympic champion Shawn Johnson.[9][10]

2010

Douglas made her national debut at the 2010 Nastia Liukin SuperGirl Cup, a televised Level 10 meet held in Worcester, Massachusetts, where Douglas placed fourth all-around.[11]

Her first elite meet was the 2010 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois, where Douglas placed third on balance beam, 6th on vault and 9th all-around in the junior division.[11]

At the 2010 US Junior National Championships, Douglas won the silver medal on balance beam, placed fourth all-around and on vault, and tied for eighth on floor exercise.[11]

In the 2010 Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, Douglas won the uneven bars title, and she won a share of the U.S. team gold medal. She also placed fifth all-around.[11]

2011

In the 2011 City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy during March, Douglas won a share of the U.S. team gold medal. She also placed second on floor, tied for third on beam, and placed fourth in the all-around and on vault.[11]

At the 2011 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois, Douglas earned the silver medal on the uneven bars.[11]

In St. Paul, Minnesota, at the 2011 National Championships, Douglas tied for third on bars and placed 7th all-around despite having major trouble on Balance Beam.[11]

After two selection camps at the Karolyi Ranch in New Waverly, Texas, Douglas was named to the 2011 U.S. World Championships Team, scheduled for October in Tokyo, Japan.

In the preliminary round of competition at the 2011 World Championships, Douglas delivered a strong performance on every event, placing fifth (57.657) all-around.[12] Nonetheless, because teammates Jordyn Wieber (who placed second) and Alexandra Raisman (who placed fourth) notched higher finishes in the all-around, Douglas was ineligible to compete in the all-around final due to the "two [athletes] per country" rule. Douglas qualified to the uneven bars final with a sixth-place finish (14.866), with skills including a Tkatchev, a Pak salto and a full-twisting double-back dismount.[13] Her skills on beam included a standing full and a tucked double back dismount. The U.S. team finished the preliminary round in first place (234.253), ahead of Russia (231.062), China (230.370) and Romania (227.228).[12]

During the women's team final competition, Douglas contributed to the U.S. effort on uneven bars (14.733), where her skills included a Tkatchev and a tucked full-in dismount. The U.S. won the team gold medal (179.411) over second-place Russia (175.329) and third-place China (172.820).[14] She also made the uneven bars finals where she placed 5th after suffering from an error during her routine.

2012

Douglas continued to pursue her goal of making the Olympic Team in 2012 and appeared first on the leaderboard (61.032) at the conclusion of the AT&T American Cup at Madison Square Garden in March. She revealed an upgraded bar routine with a piked Tkatchev (15.633) and an Amanar (2 1/2 twisting Yurchenko) vault. Her beam routine included a standing full for a score of 15.100, and she scored 14.700 on floor,[15] with a routine that included a triple twist and an arabian double front/leap combination.[16] Douglas received the highest total all-around score in the women's competition, ahead of current world champion and compatriot Jordyn Wieber. Douglas, however, was an alternate who was not entered in the competition, so her scores did not count towards her winning the competition.

Later in March, she was part of the gold-winning USA team at the Pacific Rim Championships. She had a difficult first rotation, missing her hand on the vault table as she performed her Amanar vault. She amazingly managed to still complete two twists, but landed badly on her ankle.[17] She went on to perform a great routine on the uneven bars, but struggled on beam. Trainers looking at her ankle decided that she should pull out of the final rotation [18] to prevent any further injury. She went onto compete in the uneven bars event final, winning gold ahead of silver winning teammate, Kyla Ross.[19]

Douglas competed at the 2012 Visa Championships in June. At the end of Day 1 she was tied with World Champion Jordyn Wieber for a first day score of 60.65 after scoring 14.8 on the balance beam, 15.05 on the floor exercise, 15.45 on the uneven bars, and 15.35 on vault. On Day 2 she fell on the first skill during her balance beam routine and ended with a score of 14.1. Nevertheless she was able to bounce back and only lost by .2 to Wieber. After scoring 15.3 on floor, 15.8 on vault, and 15.85 on the uneven bars she was able to take the silver in the all-around, ahead of Alexandra Raisman. She ended with a two day composite score of 121.7. She won two other medals: bronze for floor, and gold for uneven bars.

After winning a spot on the American women's Olympic gymnastics team during the Olympic trials, Douglas was the subject of much media attention in July 2012. She was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the rest of the team on the July 18, 2012 Olympic Preview issue. This marked the first time an entire Olympic gymnastics team had been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.[20] She appeared on Rock Center with Brian Williams on July 19, where she discussed her family background and Olympic ambitions.[21] On July 20, Douglas was featured on one of five covers released on that day for Time magazine. Other versions featured fellow Olympians Ryan Lochte and Lolo Jones.[22]

Summer Olympics

On July 31, Douglas and her teammates, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn Wieber, won the team gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[1]

On August 2, Douglas won the gold medal in the individual all-around final, continuing the American streak first started by Carly Patterson in 2004 and Nastia Liukin in 2008. She is the first American woman to win gold medals in both the team and all-around finals, and is the first African-American to win the all-around gold[23].

Douglas is scheduled to take part in the uneven bars on August 6[needs update] and balance beam on August 7.[needs update]

References

  1. ^ a b "Americans live up to the hype and then some, adding 1st Olympic gold since '96 to world title". Associated Press. July 31, 2012. Retrieved August 01, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ Amanda Turner, "Wieber Leads US Women's Team to Tokyo," article, InternationalGymnast, 21 September 2011, http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2771:wieber-leads-us-womens-world-team-to-tokyo&catid=2:news&Itemid=166, accessed 23 September 2011.
  3. ^ Florek, Michael (July 29, 2012). "10 things you may not know about U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas". USA TODAY.
  4. ^ Pucin, Diane (2012-07-02). "Gabrielle Douglas gets guaranteed spot on women's gymnastics team: The gymnast wins the Olympic trials over reigning world champion Jordyn Wieber. Wieber, Kyla Ross, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman also make the team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  5. ^ "Flying Squirrel and Wieber Fever Meet in London". The New York Times. 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
  6. ^ Diane Pucin, Gymnast Gabrielle Douglas adjusts well to spring to the top June 18 2012 http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-oly-gymnastics-gabby-douglas-20120619,0,7708163,full.story
  7. ^ Emmert, Mark (July 2, 2012). "Assist from sister sends Gabby Douglas to London". USA TODAY (from Des Moines Register).
  8. ^ Luca, Olivia (July 7, 2012). "From her living room to London: Gabby Douglas strives for success at Olympics". San Jose Mercury News.
  9. ^ Emmert, Mark (July 15, 2012). "Gabby Douglas' West Des Moines family can't imagine life without Olympian". Des Moines Register.
  10. ^ Suhay, Lisa (July 30, 2012). "Olympic women's gymnastics: Gabby Douglas and parenting gold". The Christian Science Monitor.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Gabrielle Douglas," Bio, USA Gymnastics, http://usagym.org/pages/athletes/athleteListDetail.html?id=132789, accessed 8 October 2011.
  12. ^ a b "International Gymnast Magazine," Quick Hits, 8 October 2011, International Gymnast, http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Gymnast-Magazine/94617143137, accessed 8 October 2011
  13. ^ "U.S. women put on a show in the qualification round at 2011 World Championships," press release, USA Gymnastics, 08 October 2011, http://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=8754&prog=, accessed 08 October 2011
  14. ^ "International Gymnast Magazine," Quick Hits, Facebook, 11 October 2011, http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Gymnast-Magazine/94617143137, accessed 11 October 2011.
  15. ^ "Gabby Douglas after Dominating the 2012 American Cup, Despite Being the Meet's Alternate," 3 March 2012, Gymnastike.org, http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/247895-2012-American-Cup/video/615712-Gabby-Douglas-after-Dominating-the-2012-American-Cup-Despite-Being-the-Meets-Alternate, accessed 5 March 2012
  16. ^ "Gabrielle Douglas Floor Exercise 2012 AT&T American Cup – HD," 4 March 2010, YouTube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OUXExJ7yVY, accessed 5 March
  17. ^ Gabby Douglas Vault 2012 Pacific Rim Team Finals March 17 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6r1fX2RbDA
  18. ^ USA Team Wins Gold 2012 Pacific Rim Championships http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmndp6_JbA
  19. ^ Pac Rim Championships – Senior Event Finals Results 18th March 2012 http://www.gymnastike.org/article/11606-Pac-Rim-Championships-Senior-Event-Finals-Results accessed 25 March
  20. ^ Emmert, Mark. "Gabby Douglas, gymnastics team make Sports Illustrated cover". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  21. ^ Dalbey, Beth. "America Watches As Gymnast Gabby Douglas Heads to London 2012 Olympics". Patch. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  22. ^ Florek, Michael. "Ryan Lochte, Gabby Douglas, Lolo Jones get TIME covers". USA Today. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  23. ^ "USA's Gabby Douglas takes gold in women's all-around". USA Today. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.

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