Even if you haven’t been following the Olympic games, chances are you’ve heard Gabby Douglas’ name more than a few times. Hailing from Virginia Beach, VA, the 16 year-old gymnast is the first African-American female to make the U.S. Olympic team since Dominique Dawes back in 1996. And her journey to the top has been a fast one. After beating out teammate and fan-favorite Jordyn Wieber for the top spot at the Olympic trials earlier this month, it seems as though Gabby Douglas became a household name overnight.
Gabby’s journey to the Olympics was aided by her mother’s support and desire to see her daughter live her dream. Back in 2008, Gabby was watching the Olympics with her mother when she saw Shawn Johnson win the gold. She told her mom, ‘I want to train with her coach. I want to be challenged’, so her mother looked up Coach Liang Chow and realized he was in Des Moines, Iowa. At the time, her mother felt as though it was no way she could send her daughter off to live with a family she didn’t know, over 3000 miles away, but Gabby asked again in 2010, and this time her mom decided it was time to let her daughter go for it:
‘How do I send my youngest child away to a family that I don’t know? To a community that I don’t know? Letting go of Gabrielle was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. But it’s now one of the most rewarding things that I’ve ever got to experience in my life because there is no greater joy than a parent being able to see their child reach their dream.
The rest may be Olympic Gold history.
