Gabby Douglas
by: Mia Salazar
Gabby Douglas known as (Gabrielle Douglas) is an American artist gymnast and was a member of the U.S. Women's Gymnastics team. At the 2012 Olympics she won gold medals in the individual all around and team competitions, and she won first place. She also earned the 2012 Olympic Team Gold and the 2012 Women’s Gymnastics Olympic All-Around Title.
Making her not only the first African American to ever receive the All-Around title, but also the only female gymnasts in history to possess both Team and All-Around Gold in the same Olympics.
Gabrielle was introduced to gymnastics by way of a cartwheel. Her older sister, Arielle – a former gymnast and competitive cheerleader, was determined to teach the toddler the sport she loved. Gabrielle immediately picked up her older sister’s love of the sport and soon taught herself how to do a one armed cartwheel.
Arielle convinced their mother, Natalie Hawkins, to allow Gabrielle to train at a local gym. Once formal training began, another two years was all it took for Virginia to crown Gabrielle as the new 2004 Gymnastics State Champion.
After returning to her village, she went home and googled herself. And from there, she saw alot of news about her and pictures. Then she went to an NBC's show. NBC says that Gabby's profile in websites has viewed had more than 1800 page views. After 2 weeks, she gained a twitter shoutout from the likes of Oprah, Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga, a website shoutout from Beyoncé, a phone call from President Obama, and a face-to-face meeting with Kate Middleton. Gabby is the biggest gymnastic star since Mary Lou Retton.