Gabby olympic gymnast how tall

Douglas is the first African American to make the U. Olympic women's gymnastics team since Dawes in Douglas' high-flying skills and high difficulty score on bars not only likened her to Dawes, but caught the attention of U. Fans worldwide watched as judges announced the team's medal win — the first gold medal for the American women's gymnastics team since Douglas went on to compete in the individual all-around and became the first African American to win gold in the prestigious event.

Following her two golds, she competed in the individual uneven bars and individual beam events, but failed to medal in either, placing eighth and seventh, respectively. By , year-old Douglas had proven herself a champion, going from underdog to Olympian in a short time. She was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in early July of , along with the rest of the U.

Olympic women's gymnastics team, and on one of five covers released by TIME Magazine that same month. She was also a featured Olympian on Kellogg's special edition box of Wheaties corn flakes. After her historic Olympic win, Douglas moved to Los Angeles in In , she returned to training with Chow and later that year began training under coach Kittia Carpenter.

Douglas did not compete in but returned to international competition in She placed 4th all-around at the City of Jesolo Trophy, second in the all-around at the U. She was named to the Senior National Team and was selected for the U. Women's World Championship team. At the Olympic trials in July , Douglas finished seventh, after two falls from the balance beam.

Regardless, she earned a spot on the Olympic team, with fellow gymnasts Simone Biles , Laurie Hernandez , Madison Kocian and Raisman, to become the first reigning all-around Olympic champion to return to compete in a second Olympic Games since Nadia Comaneci in She and teammate Raisman, also a member of the gold medal-winning team in , were the first American women gymnasts to return to the Olympics since Dawes and Amy Chow in Gabby Douglas competes on the balance beam during the Sr.

Women's Secret U. On August 9, , Douglas helped the U. We wanted to do it for her just because she's there with us every single day. The next Olympics is only going to be a four-person team. Douglas had the third-highest score of 61 participants in the qualifying rounds to compete in the women's individual all-around event.

Five years later she sacrificed her family life, moving from Virginia to Iowa to train with celebrated coach Liang Chow. It brought near-instant reward with Douglas crowned team world champion in , when she was still only It was not all smooth, however. Her confidence beaten, it took a new coaching team and regime to persuade her she could do it all. At the Olympic Games in London she was unstoppable in the blue riband all-around event, before following it up with team gold. Four years later Douglas was back again showing the kind of tenacity for which she was always lauded.

Chow and his wife were delighted to have Douglas return to the Iowa gym, which they had not expected she would after her departure to Los Angeles in summer At that time they were also training promising junior Norah Flatley, who many considered similar to both Douglas and Shawn Johnson in performance style.

She remained in the market for a new coach until the beginning of August, when news broke that Douglas would train under Kittia Carpenter at Buckeye Gymnastics in Genoa Township, Ohio. Nia Dennis, national team member, also trained at Buckeye at the time. Carpenter announced that Douglas would not aim to return to competition at the national championships, as previously planned, but would instead train with a goal of returning in time for Worlds The stated reasoning for Douglas's delay is that she wishes to return as strong as — or stronger than — when she left.

National Team Coordinator Marta Karolyi, who expressed satisfaction and some surprise with Douglas's physical condition at her first two national team training camps back while she was once again working with Chow , commented on Douglas's planned comeback in Ohio, "My wish is that she will be consistent in her training.

And if that's what she will do, I think she will be fine. But if she jumps up and down and left and right, it will be much harder. After participating in several national team camps in , on November 25, , Douglas was added back to the U. Douglas performed all the gymnastic stunts herself. In , it was announced that a reality television show for the Oxygen channel had been commissioned to follow Douglas and her family's life, issued under the working title Douglas Family Gold.

The show premiered on May 25, On August 23, , it was announced that Douglas would be one of the judges at the Miss America pageant. Although she was no longer training with Chow, she said that she was still preparing to compete in the Olympics. Later in March, she was part of the gold-winning U. At the U. National Championships in June, Douglas won the gold medal in uneven bars, silver in the all-around, and bronze in floor. At the Olympic Trials held in San Jose, California on July 1, Douglas placed first in the all-around rankings, securing the only guaranteed spot on the women's Olympic gymnastic team.

Douglas was the only gymnast on the team to compete on all four apparatus vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise during the finals of the team competition. She then won the gold medal in the individual all-around, becoming the first African-American woman, as well as the first woman of color of any nationality, to win the event. She also became the fourth American woman to win Olympic all-around gold as well as the third straight to do so after Mary Lou Retton in Los Angeles in , Carly Patterson in Athens in and Nastia Liukin in Beijing in , all of whom were at the venue and watched Douglas equal their feat.

She also became the first American gymnast ever to win both the team and individual all-around gold at the same Olympics. She became the fourth gymnast to receive the honor. In July , Douglas and her teammates were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Olympic Preview issue, the first time an entire Olympic gymnastics team had been featured on the cover of the magazine.

On July 20, Douglas was on one of five Time magazine Olympic covers. National Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota, Douglas tied for third on bars and placed seventh all-around.

Douglas also placed fifth in uneven bars. Douglas competed at the Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup, a televised Level 10 meet held in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she placed fourth all-around. Her first elite meet was the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois, where Douglas placed third on balance beam, 6th on vault, and 9th all-around in the junior division.

Junior National Championships, Douglas won the silver medal on balance beam, placed fourth all-around and on vault, and tied for eighth on floor exercise. She also placed fifth all-around.

In , Douglas suffered a fracture in the growth plate of her wrist. Due to this injury, she was not able to compete and missed the Covergirl US Classic. While she competed at the Visa Championships in Dallas, Texas, Douglas was unable to perform her full routines and competed only on balance beam and floor exercise.

Douglas made her international debut in at the US Classic in Houston, Texas, where she placed 10th place in the all-around rankings. She went on to compete at the Visa Championships in Boston, Massachusetts. Placing 16th in that competition, Douglas was not eligible for the Junior Women's National Team.