What is gabby douglas famous for

Whether you are a fan of the Olympics or of gymnastics, it's hard not to know the name of gymnast legend Gabrielle Douglas. 

Gabrielle Douglas was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team—a squad known as the Fierce Five that won the Olympic gold medal for the first time since 1996.

Douglas also earned gold in the all-around, becoming the first gymnast in American history to win the gold medal in both the team and all-around. After some time off after the Olympics, in the spring of 2014, Douglas began to train for a competitive comeback.

She was also the first Black gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title. 

Gabby Douglas has made a name for herself — but even her biggest fans might not know everything about her. We decided to dig a little deeper.

1. She was a junior talent and then trained alongside an Olympic champion.

Douglas qualified for the 2010 junior U.S. Championships and placed a very impressive fourth all-around at nationals that year. She was named to the 2010 Pan American Championships team, where she took first on bars and helped the USA win the team competition.

After her early success as an elite, Douglas decided to switch coaches. She met Liang Chow, coach of 2008 Olympian Shawn Johnson, at a coaching clinic and moved to Iowa to work with him at his gym, Chow's Gymnastics and Dance. She trained alongside Johnson until Johnson's retirement from the sport in June of 2012.

2. She was the youngest gymnast in the competition at her first worlds.

Though originally the alternate to the world team, Douglas ended up on the roster after an abdominal injury sidelined team member Anna Li.

At age 15, Douglas was the youngest gymnast in the meet but excelled at her first worlds. She competed in all four events in prelims and ended up fifth all-around after the competition was over. Unfortunately, due to the two-per-country rule, only two U.S. gymnasts could advance to the all-around finals. American teammates Jordyn Wieber and Aly Raisman ranked higher (second and fourth, respectively).

Douglas did qualify for the bars finals, however, and placed fifth, even with an error. (Watch her bar routine here.)

3. She had a breakout meet at the 2012 American Cup — and then won the Olympic Trials.

In 2012, Douglas had a huge performance at the American Cup in March. She competed as the U.S. team alternate, so her scores didn't officially count, but she ended up with the highest total of the day. Had she been an "official" competitor, she would have beaten world all-around gold medalist Wieber.

Then Douglas edged Wieber for the overall title at the 2012 Olympic Trials, finishing just 0.1 ahead of her after the two-day competition. Douglas, therefore, earned the single automatic berth onto the Olympic team (though she would have undoubtedly been selected onto the team anyway). Beating Wieber also showed that she was a legitimate contender for the Olympic all-around title.

4. She was the star of the 2012 Olympics.

Douglas was the unofficial MVP of Team USA at the London Games. She performed so well in prelims that she qualified to the individual all-around, bars and beam finals. She competed in all four events for the U.S. in the team finals and amassed an enormous 61.465 total all-around score. She was a huge part of Team USA's gold medal victory.

In the all-around final, Douglas topped even her all-around score from team finals, earning a 62.232 and winning the all-around gold medal. Douglas had two more chances to medal in the event finals of bars and of beam, but she finished eighth and seventh, respectively.

5. She helped Team USA win its third consecutive team title. 

After some time off after London, Douglas announced she'd be returning to training in April of 2014 with the goal of competing at the Rio Olympics in 2016. She competed in her first world championships since 2011 in October of 2015 and earned an impressive second place all-around behind three-time world champ (and U.S. teammate) Simone Biles. She also helped the U.S. team win its third consecutive team title.

In the 2016 Olympics, Douglas was part of the so-called Final Five, which won gold in team. This was the second consecutive gold medal for the U.S. team.

In addition, Douglas and Biles are the only two U.S. all-around champs to earn multiple golds in the same Olympics.

6. She's got some pretty amazing skills. 

Douglas competes for a sky-high piked reverse hecht (at 0:59) on the bars and a standing back full on beam. She also did an Amanar vault, which she's hoping to regain by Rio.

7. She likes floor and beam—and knitting.

Douglas names floor and beam as her favorite events. Douglas enjoys reading and knitting in her free time. One more fun fact: She has two nicknames: Gabby and (the less commonly known) Brie.

International:

  • 2016 Olympic Games: 1st team; 2nd bars
  • 2015 world championships: 1st team; 2nd all-around; 5th bars
  • 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy: 1st team; 4th all-around
  • 2012 Olympic Games: 1st team; 1st all-around; 8th bars; 7th beam
  • 2012 Pacific Rim Championships: 1st team; 1st bars
  • 2011 world championships: 1st team; 5th bars
  • 2011 City of Jesolo Trophy: 1st team; 4th all-around; 4th vault; 3rd beam (tie); 2nd floor
  • 2010 Pan American Championships: 1st team; 5th all-around; 1st bars

National:

  • 2016 Olympics: 1st team; 7th bars
  • 2016 P&G Championships: 4th all-around; 6th bars; 6th beam; 5th floor
  • 2015 P&G Championships: 5th all-around; 4th bars; 6th floor
  • 2015 Secret U.S. Classic: 2nd all-around; 2nd bars; 3rd beam; 2nd floor
  • 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials: 1st all-around; 1st bars (tie); 3rd floor
  • 2012 Visa Championships (U.S. nationals): 2nd all-around; 1st bars; 3rd floor
  • 2011 Visa Championships (U.S. nationals): 3rd bars (tie); 7th all-around
  • 2011 CoverGirl Classic: 2nd bars
  • 2010 Visa Championships (Jr. Division): 4th all-around; 4th vault; 2nd beam; 8th floor (tie)
  • 2010 CoverGirl Classic (Jr. Division): 9th all-around; 6th vault; 3rd beam
  • 2010 Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup: 4th all-around

Douglas was born on December 31, 1995, to Timothy Douglas and Natalie Hawkins. Her hometown is Virginia Beach, Va., and she started gymnastics in 2002. Douglas has two older sisters, Arielle and Joyelle, and an older brother, Johnathan.

Check out these photos of Gabby Douglas in action.

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Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas, or Gabby Douglas, is an American Olympic Gymnast. Gabby was born in Newport News, Virginia and quickly picked up on gymnastics by perfecting the cartwheel at age three. At the 2012 Olympic Summer Games, Gabby Douglas became the first African-American in the history of the prestige Olympics to win the individual all-around event. Douglas also won gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games with the United States of America team. Douglas’ passion for gymnastics started back when she was six years old and began training, Gabby then won her first state championship, Virginia State Gymnastics Championship, by the time she was eight. As Douglas grew older she began training with famous and well respected trainer coach Liang Chow, and left her hometown when we turned 14 to focus on gymnastics. Douglas made her debut nationally at the 2010 Nastia Liukin SuperGirl Cup, which was a televised gymnastics meet in Massachusetts.

  • Birthdate: December 31,1995 (31-12-1995)
  • Education: Oak Park High School
  • Net Worth: $4 million
  • Occupation: Gymnast
  • Height: 5 ft 2 in. (1.5748 m)
  • Weight: 108 lbs (48.98 kg)
  • Years Active: 11
  • Career Wins: 3 gold medals
  • Nicknames: The Flying Squirrel
  • Teams: USA Olympic Gymnastic team
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Personal Website

Gabby Douglas started gymnastics around the age of and by the time she was eight, Douglas had won the level 4 all-around gymnastics title at the 2004 Virginia State Championships. Gabby continued training and worked her way to the 2012 London Olympics as a part of team USA. There Gabby helped the American women’s gymnastics team win their first gold medal since 1996. Douglas also went on to be the first African American woman to win the individual gold on the individual uneven bars and individual beam events as well. Gabby took a break after the London Olympics for about nine months and then decided to start training under new coach Kittia Carpenter. Douglas ended up placing fourth all-around at the 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy, second in the all-around at the US Classic and fifth overall in the P&G Championships. Finally in July 2016 Gabby won a gold medal with the USA team at the second Olympic games.

Gabby Douglas has won many awards during her time as a competitive gymnast. Douglas won her first award at the age of 8, which was the Virginia State Championship and she hasn’t slowed down since. When Douglas made her debut nationally at the SuperGirl Cup, she placed fourth all around, third on the balance beam, sixth on the vault, and ninth all-around in the junior division. During the 2010 U.S. Junior National Championships, she was awarded the silver medal on the balance beam and fourth all-around. When Douglas conquered the uneven bars she earned the title of fifth place which helped push the U.S. over the edge to win the gold medal. Douglas also won the gold medal in the team finals at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Japan. During Douglas’ time at the 2012 Summer Olympics, she won an individual and team gold medal She also won team gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Gabby Douglas, or Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas, was born on December 31st, 1995 in Newport News, Virginia and grew up in Virginia Beach. Gabby’s parents are Timothy Douglas and Natalie Hawkins-Douglas who are also parents to three other children. Gabby has three older siblings, Arielle Douglas, Joyelle Douglas, and Jonathan Douglas. Douglas’ older siblings were also passionate about gymnastics in their younger years and convinced the young Gabby to try out gymnastics to see if she would like it or not. When she was 14, Gabby moved to Des Moines, Iowa to focus on gymnastics and increase her ability and skills with renowned coach, Liang Chow. Douglas left her family during this move which she has stated was very challenging and the hardest thing she has ever done. The Douglas family is very tight knit and extremely supportive of Gabby and all her endeavours in the gymnastics world.

Fun Facts

  • Douglas was only four years old when she did her first tumbling pass
  • Douglas trained for over 18,000 hours for her first time at the Olympics
  • Gabby helped set the record for the most amount of cartwheels performed at the same time
  • Douglas has her own line of leotards
  • Douglas became the first African American gymnast to win an individual Gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics
  • She produced her own Lifetime movie about her life
  • She won her first state gymnastics championship at the age of eight
  • She moved away from her family at the age of 14 to practice more gymnastics 
  • Douglas loves her family and does not believe she would have made it to the Olympics without their continuous support
  • Gabby Douglas’ favorite color is yellow
  • Douglas’ favorite meal is salmon with mashed potatoes

Will Gabby Douglas be participating in the 2020 Olympics?

Gabby Douglas has played a key role in the United States Gymnastics team for the past eight years, winning her first gold medal back in 2012. Unfortunately Douglas will not be participating in the 2020 Summer Olympic games. Douglas, now 24, is focusing on enjoying her life and hasn’t trained since 2016. Douglas is looking to explore other careers in order to find success outside of the gymnastics sport. Whatever Gabby does will most certainly be amazing!

What is The Gabby Douglas Story about?

The Gabby Douglas Story is a Lifetime movie produced by Gabby Douglas which depicts her life and the events she endured on her journey to the Olympics. Douglas is known for being an incredible and extraordinary gymnast and decided to produce her own film which would detail the events in her life that led her to becoming the woman she is today. Gabby is portrayed by Imani Hakim and coach Liang is portrayed by Brian Tee.

What is Gabby Douglas’ diet?

As a United States Olympic Gymnast, Douglas’ diet has to be extremely strict and well followed in order for Gabby to perform her absolute best and be in the best shape of her life. For lunch Douglas likes to focus on eating lean proteins like chicken and grilled asparagus, Douglas also loves nuts, particularly almonds and finds them to be just enough to get her through the training day. Her breakfast and dinner must also consist of more lean protein and veggies in order to stay physically fit.

Does Gabby Douglas have a cheat meal?

Gabby Douglas, like most people, likes to pride herself on normality and that she is not just this amazing and incredible gymnast but a normal person as well. Douglas loves greasy foods and tries to treat herself to one day where she likes to have a few sweets and greasy foods, without going completely haywire. Douglas believes the key to a cheat day is balance and that not every meal requires you feeling like you can not move afterwards.