Gabby Douglas, the 2012 all-around Olympic gymnastics champion, made the unfortunate decision when she revealed she was ending her pursuit of a spot on the 2024 Olympic team.
Gabby Douglas pulled out of the USA Gymnastics Championships this weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, with an ankle injury. After an eight-year hiatus, her withdrawal ends her attempt to make the 2024 Paris Olympic team.
“I love this sport, and I love pushing my limits,” Douglas told ESPN‘s Alyssa Roenigk. “I hope I can inspire both my peers and the next generation of gymnasts that age is just a number, and you can accomplish anything you work hard for.”
Douglas qualified for the Championships in three of the four events: vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. She did not make the all-around team. Gabby Douglas, 28, would have become the first American woman to make three Olympic teams since Dominique Dawes if she had made the team. She would also have become the oldest American woman to compete in a gymnastics competition since 1952.
The news was expected after Douglas withdrew from the U.S. Classic on May 18 due to a single incident. She had looked better in training and had planned to improve on her first competition return, which was at the American Classic on April 27. However, she made her trademark two falls on uneven bars and appeared stony-faced as she exited the platform.
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Gabby Douglas’s 10.1 on bars would have made it difficult for her to qualify for the national championships’ all-around competition, where competitors must earn a 51 or above.
“I honestly didn’t do the best that I wanted,” Douglas said of the American Classic, which was her first competition since the Rio Olympics in 2016. “But I have to give myself a little grace because it’s been so long.”
Douglas is one of the sport’s most decorated athletes and became the first black gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title in 2012 in London.
Gabby Douglas Had To Deal With Terrible Online Harassment During Her Time In Rio
Gabby Douglas’ departure from the sport she once loved was partly due to having to deal with an unprecedented amount of Internet hate, which started when Douglas didn’t place her hand over her heart during the national anthem at a medal ceremony in Rio.
She was accused of hating America and further slammed for not partaking in a standing ovation for Simone Biles and Aly Raisman.
Then, she had to deal with questions about her hair.
“I tried to stay off the internet because there’s just so much negativity,” Douglas said in an interview in 2016 via U.S. Magazine. “It’s been kind of a lot to deal with…When I heard some of the comments, I was finally like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. That’s far from me and far from my personality at all.'” Her mom, Natalie Hawkins, also came to her defense. “What I saw in the stands was someone who was hurting, and she was also angry. What was going through her head was, ‘I’m being attacked for everything I do, so I might as well not do anything. Because no matter what I do, I am being attacked,'” Hawkins said. “You name it, and she got trampled. What did she ever do to anyone?”
