The first African-American girl to win a gold medal in gymnastics
Sixteen-year-old American Gabrielle Douglas made history at the 2012 London Olympics when she became the first African-American athlete to win an individual gold medal in gymnastics, a sport that had previously been dominated by Eastern Europeans and, more recently, Chinese athletes.
Sixteen-year-old American Gabrielle Douglas made history at the 2012 London Olympics when she became the first African-American athlete to win an individual gold medal in gymnastics, a sport that had previously been dominated by Eastern Europeans and, more recently, Chinese athletes.
This was only the second major international tournament Douglas had entered, but she beat out the likes of Russia's Viktoria Komova to take the podium at London's North Greenwich Arena.
“I think she has rewritten history,” said U.S. coach Martha Karolyi, who trained Romania’s Nadia Comaneci. “It’s amazing.”
“I am so happy for Gabby. She is a lovely girl, hard-working and always trying her best. Her will is shown by her willingness to leave home to get better training. Everything about her is admirable.”
The Olympic success marked a remarkable growth for Douglas, who left her home in Virginia at the age of 14 and moved to Iowa, where she was coached by Liang Chow.
At the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, the strong girl did not show her full potential, but at the pre-Olympic tournaments in the US last month, she defeated world champion Jordyn Wieber in the individual category.
“She is very capable and will always fly on the bar, but sometimes Gabby gets out of control. We have to work very hard together,” Karolyi said.
“But winning this medal was unexpected. She was recharged and improved so much in such a short period of time. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. Never in my career have I seen an athlete who was pretty average suddenly become great so quickly.”
Douglas became the first female gymnast since Shannon Miller at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to win gold medals in multiple events, when she and her teammates won the team event earlier on July 31.
Douglas's Olympic journey may not be over yet, as she will have two more finals in the vault and parallel bars in the coming days.
Twelve years after Dominique Dawes became the first African-American athlete to win an Olympic medal, Douglas became the next to win a medal in a sport dominated by white athletes. More importantly, she won gold.
After her win, she said she hadn't even thought about making history: “I had forgotten about it. It was amazing. Being the first African-American to win an Olympic medal is an incredible feeling.”
Douglas thanked coach Chow and his wife, Liwen Zhuang, for teaching her. Both husband and wife are former players of the Chinese national team.
“Chow and Li helped shape me into who I am today. The last five months, things in the gym have been really tough. We have had to push each other every day.”
Gabrielle Douglas cries with emotion after winning medal
“Even in the most difficult times, Chow still pushed me, even when I was like ‘whatever’, he still tried. In the end, everything paid off.”
Douglas is the second Olympic champion to come out of Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute, following Shawn Johnson, the golden girl who won one gold and three silver medals in Beijing four years ago.
“She is a great athlete, with strength and determination,” Mr. Chow said smilingly about the new champion. “I am so lucky to have her.”
“Her mother came to me a few years ago and said, ‘My daughter wants to be an Olympic champion.’ I said, ‘Okay, I will do my best.’”
“Tonight is a wonderful night for me, like a dream come true, to have a student who is an Olympic champion.”/.
According to Thethaovanhoa.vn - DT
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