EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

ABOUT GABBY DOUGLAS

By: Claire Riley

Background

Born on December 31,1995 Gabby was born in Virginia Beach,

Virginia Her parents names are Timothy Douglas

and Natalie Hawkins, but her mom was a single parent when the kids were young

She has 3 siblings

Obstacles

In early childhood her family was homeless. This had helped motivate her with her gymnastics.

She had to beg her mom for over 2 years to join a gymnastics center.

Gabby had moved 3,000 miles away from her family to begin her Olympic gymnastics training. She had a host family which was the Patrons.

Achievements

2010 Us Junior National Championship in

Beam Silver medalist. Pan American Championship in Uneven

Bars Gold medalist. Three time National team member

2011 World Championship team gold

medalist.

2012 Olympic All around gold medalist Olympic team gold medalist US Olympic trials all around trials

championship

Continued

Pacific Rim Uneven bars gold medalist

Secret US classic uneven bars gold medalist

US National Championships Floor exercise bronze medalist US Olympic Trials Uneven bars

gold medalist

Media When Gabby won Gold in the Individual All Around

at the 2012 Olympics, she was the first African American as well as the first woman of color of any nationality to win the event.

Later that summer she spoke with Oprah about racist bullying in the gym and how it nearly made her quit the sport.

The media loved her because she had lots of personality and determination. She gained lots of fans during the 2012 Olympics and received more attention than many of her peers.

Significance Because she was one of the first

successful African American female gymnasts; she became an important figure for many young girls of color who also had dreams of being gymnasts.

She told her story in two books: “Grace, Gold and Glory” and “Raising the Bar”. Both books talk about her sport, the obstacles she faced, and her relationship with God.

Currently…

She is not yet retired, but still competes. Gabby continues to train in hopes of

participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

She is training in Columbus, Ohio and plans to enter the 2015 World Championships