Gabby Douglas

Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995 in Virginia Beach, Virginia) is an American gymnast. She competed with the United States' women's gymnastics team in the 2012 Summer Olympics.  She won gold medals in both the individual all-around and team competitions. (In the "all-around" competition, gymnasts do all four gymnastics activities - balance beam, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise.) 

Douglas is the first African-American woman in Olympic history to win first place in the individual all-around competition. She is also the first American gymnast who ever won gold medals in both the all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics. 

Douglas started gymnastics at age 6.  Her sister Arielle, who had broken her wrist doing gymnastics, convinced their mother to let Gabby start taking gymnastics classes.  In October 2002, Douglas began her training at Gymstrada Gymnastics in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In July 2004, she left Gymstrada and began training at Excalibur Gymnastics.

At age 16, Douglas made it to the Olympic Trials. She won first place and got a spot on the United States' 2012 women's gymnastics Olympic team.  Her teammates were Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, and Aly Raisman. They won the team all-around gold medal, and Gabby also won the individual all-around gold medal.

References

Other websites
 AL HAMNIK: Olympic gymnast Gabbrielle Douglas doing it her way. Al Hamnik, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2012.
 Gabby Douglas Mother Sold Her Jewelry To Help Her Daughter Win Gold Medal. Camira Powell, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2012.
 Gabrielle Douglas . Gabrielle Douglas. United States Olympic Committee, 2012. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.
Official website 

Category:American gymnasts
Category:1995 births
Category:Living people
Category:Sportspeople from Virginia
Category:2012 Summer Olympics
Category:Sportspeople from Des Moines, Iowa