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Quick Facts
- NAME: Gabby Douglas
- OCCUPATION: Gymnast
- BIRTH DATE: December 31, 1995 (Age: 17)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Nickname: Flying Squirrel
- AKA: Gabby Douglas
- Full Name: Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas
- ZODIAC SIGN: Capricorn
Best Known For
Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas is best known as the first African American to win the individual all-around event. She also won a team gold medal for the U.S. at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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Play NowGabrielle Douglas. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 10:48, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/gabby-douglas-20900057.
Gabrielle Douglas. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/gabby-douglas-20900057 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"Gabrielle Douglas." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 10:48 http://www.biography.com/people/gabby-douglas-20900057.
"Gabrielle Douglas," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/gabby-douglas-20900057 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"Gabrielle Douglas," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/gabby-douglas-20900057 (accessed May 25, 2013).
Gabrielle Douglas [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/gabby-douglas-20900057.
Gabrielle Douglas, http://www.biography.com/people/gabby-douglas-20900057 (last visited May 25, 2013).
Gabrielle Douglas. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/gabby-douglas-20900057. Accessed May 25, 2013.
The American-Gymnast.com article reported that Douglas's high-flying skills and high difficulty score on bars liken her to Dawes and enticed her to U.S. women's national team coordinator Martha Karoyli, who nicknamed her "Flying Squirrel."
By 2012, 16-year-old Douglas had proven herself a champion,
going from underdog to Olympian in a short time. She became the subject of significant media attention in the summer of 2012: She was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in early July of 2012, along with the rest of the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team, and on one of five covers released by TIME Magazine that same month.
2012 Olympics
At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, Douglas and other members of the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team -- Kyla Ross, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber -- took home a team gold medal. Fans worldwide watched as judges announced the team's medal win -- the first gold medal for the American women's gymnastics team since 1996.
Douglas went on to compete in the individual all-around event, 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 eight and seventh, respectively.
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