I am not even going to go into the fact that she is the first African American to do so since President Obama has demonstrated that NOTHING is restricted by one's race these days. However I do want to say that what she did is an amazing achievement, and that coming from a single parent home, it is just that much MORE impressive.
NOBODY who has not parented a child gymnast, or been one themselves, can ever imagine how difficult their lives can be, or the kind of commitment it takes to reach even the competition level, much less an Olympic level in this sport.
As I am sure I have shared in the past I was a gymnastics coach for four and a half years and I can tell you first hand that what these young ladies, and young men, ask of their bodies on a daily basis is just this side of superhuman.
In my opinion pound for pound gymnasts are the most carefully conditioned and powerful athletes on the planet. I have trained in a number of disciplines including wrestling, football, baseball, swimming, power lifting, bodybuilding, and martial arts, and I can tell you that the MOST strenuous training I ever endured was in a little room above the gymnasium next to Dimond High's weight room where I learned gymnastics. (I STILL have injuries left over from those days.)
So all I can say is congratulations Gabby! You deserve EVERY accolade and honor you are about to receive.
P.S. I don't want to appear sexist so I also want to congratulate Danell Leyva's bronze medal victory. I am a HUGE fan of men's gymnastics but have missed almost all of it due to NBC's bizarre and spotty coverage.
I am so very proud of this young woman. She makes me proud to be an American. I got moist in the eyes with her excellence and perseverance! What a great summer it has turned out to be!
ReplyDeleteI think you’re right. I worked with a man who had a daughter with Olympic potential in gymnastics. She worked her heart out, and her parents were willing to make any sacrifice, but in the end she was getting injured and just wasn’t good enough; her trainers ended it. The family was crushed.
ReplyDeleteI guess that happens sometimes, doesn't? So does that me we should all just curl up in the corner and bawl? No one gets anywhrer without trying. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't.
Delete""For much of the last several years, Douglas, who has done three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has made do with YouTube videos of his daughter’s routines as he served with the 203rd Red Horse civil engineering squadron, either in Virginia Beach or in Kandahar. Although his last tour ended in October of 2011, when he showed up to see her qualify for the U.S. Olympic team, it was one of the rare times he has seen Gabby compete in person.
ReplyDeleteGabby, who began training at age six, was just nine when her father was first called up. Two years ago, she moved from her family in Virginia Beach to live with a sponsoring family in Des Moines, Iowa, where she trained with Liang Chow, who previously coached Shawn Johnson, the 2008 Olympic silver medalist""
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/08/03/gabby-douglas-proud-father-watches-her-win-gold-from-afghanistan/#ixzz22VxuWvTP"
Her mom has had a bit of help.
""I'm sick to my stomach the whole time and when it's time to go back, I'm not even sure where she's staying," Hawkins recalled Thursday, a half-hour or so after Douglas became the first African-American to win an individual Olympic gold in gymnastics. "'And I'm thinking to myself the whole time, 'What kind of mother does something like that?'"
The memory, two years old now, is still fresh enough to make tears well up in the corners of her eyes. Travis and Missy Parton, who took Douglas in after a three-month stint with another family in West Des Moines, Iowa, didn't work out, stood nearby and might have been fighting back sniffles of their own.""
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/03/natalie-hawkins-gabby-douglas_n_1736654.html
Its wonderful what strangers can do.Its a shame that the first family "did not workout" but they did try.Gymnastics takes so much hard work,but it also takes a small fortune to compete at the national level.I wonder how many children with great talent never get the chance?With families like those who helped Gabby more will.
Her host family did not pay for her training. Her mother and father (who is in Afghanistan) did that.
DeleteI am sure that Gabby and her family have had help from several sources....but the main thing is that Gabby had what it takes and she had the support of her family, her host family, her coach, and unknown others.
DeleteOk, sorry to rain on everyone's patriotic parade bandwagon here, but what has happened to sports, and kid playing port in the US is ludicrous. It is no longer a game, no longer fun. Parent who push their kids to do this are exploiting their kids. Just as child actor's can be. At least the actors get days off.
DeleteNBC is doing great .. every few minutes they interrupt the commercials to show a few seconds of sports.
ReplyDeleteYeah, a few seconds that happened 8 hours ago. I had to smirk when Costas said last night at midnight, "there are more than a few young African American girls tonight who are saying, "Yes, I want to do that too." Right...except that they never got to see Gabby..they were all put to bed at 8:00. Bunch of dweebs at NBC...show the competition live, then repeat it and chop it up later if you must. ABC was much better at this.
DeleteThis is a great story. Single parent, moving away from home to train and persevering. But this still happens-
ReplyDeletehttp://angryblackladychronicles.com/2012/08/01/wapos-express-night-out-omits-gabby-douglas-from-coverage-of-womens-gymnastics-teams-gold-medal-win/
...jonmc
Gabby succeeded because she is not a QUITTER. We all know who the QUITTERS are represented by: High School Dropouts, Mayors, 1/2 Term Governors, and Pimps.
ReplyDeletePlease show proof Todd has quit being a pimp
DeleteWell done, Gabby. Congratulations too to Missy Franklin, Michael Phelps and the 15 yr old who won the 800 freestyle. They are all amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing to watch her. She is a treasure!
ReplyDeleteGREAT JOB, GABY! We are all proud of you!
ReplyDeleteI agree that NBC's coverage is bizarre and spotty. I would have liked to see more of the men's gymnastics, but they were too busy showing snippets of feel-good stuff about the athletes' lives. I'd like a little less of that and more of the actual sports. And I would have liked to see more of other countries' gymnasts, too, in both men's and women's, not just the top three or four contenders.
ReplyDeleteI was proud of Gabby, too! I thought she handled the win with grace and poise.
I don't want to be too critical, and i know the Russians were disappointed, but I thought it was a bit diva-like to stand stone-faced through the medal ceremony, looking pissed off because they "only" won silver and bronze. I understand that they worked and trained hard, for years, and at great expense, but they aren't the only ones. Other athletes who worked just as hard didn't earn medals at all. Silver and bronze are not exactly shabby.
I was 14 when tae kwon do became an Olympic event. By that time, I already earned my second degree, and had 8 years of competition under my belt, 4 of which were on the national circuit. I was being groomed to be an Olympic competitor from a young age, we were just waiting for the sport to be included in the games.
ReplyDeleteI spent the next two years of my life training my heart out. Sure, my school work suffered, but that wasn't important. I was a well trained athlete at the top of my division, martial arts was my life, and I was well on my way to the qualifiers.
I had injuries, sure, but nothing I couldn't handle. But then one dy during a five mile run, my knees gave out from underneath me, and I couldn't stand. I called my coach before my parents, and I was brought straight to my sports doctor for X-rays and mris.
It was then when I was told that I barely had enough cartilage left to allow for comfortable walking, let alone high impact competitive sport. I would need surgery, and even after, I would never be the same.
I was so close, and in an instant, I had to give up my dream.
I actually joined a support group y doctor put together of young, injured athletes whose injuries took them before their prime. Most of them were gymnasts who were working towards the games like me, and like me, they all suffered the injury that was the straw that broke our backs. It's so hard to be so close and then be told that if you DON'T stop, you will lose the ability to walk. I had no other choice.
I went from being trained, to training, while walking with a cane and a limp. Even ten years later, I deal with pain that should keep me in bed, but I just suck it up and move on. The pain I live with are just daily reminders of not only how close I was to my ultimate goal, but also to how strong I am.
Chella, I thank you for the reminder that "extreme" training from a very young age has consequences which may not be understood by the child or the parents at the time.
DeleteI do hope that your "can do" mindset will remain. You have my admiration.
fromthediagonal
My knees were the final straw. The daily neck/back is horrible, but it didn't take away my ability to perform. It just lessened my quality of life.
DeleteBut after 10 years, the pain becomes the norm and you've already learned how to deal with it.
I was a spit fire when I was younger, but you are absolutely right when it comes to what an intense training routine can do to young and still growing bodies. Sometimes the damage is irreversible. And we have to learn to live with it.
As I watch Gabby and see how both strong and flexible she is,and the power she puts into her moves,I hope that does not mean a life of pain for her.She seems to have no fear.Chella,I never got any closer to the Olympics than to be considered both good enough to handle my instructors Olympic hopeful horses schooling and care when she needed open heart surgery.The surgery ended her dream,but her horse survived his 7 months with me to become an international level 3 day event competetor
DeleteI, too, worry about the toll this single-minded focus on the Olympics can take on these young bodies. The level of training gets more and more intense all the time, and the competition is so fierce that they must devote every moment of their young lives to reaching for that goal.
DeleteI saw the same thing with ballet dancers when I was in high school and college. I was taking jazz dance classes because I enjoyed it but there were some girls at my studio who lived and breathed ballet. The number of them who made it to professional companies I'm sure could be counted on one hand with fingers left over, but the number of them who will suffer the effects of making their bodies do the impossible is enormous. Even those who make it are washed up by 30.
I am thrilled that Gabby achieved her dream, but I worry about the Olympic athletes I see competing at such a young age. Where do they go from here?
Don't you ever feel guilty teaching young kid to abuse their bodies and cripple themselves for life?
DeleteThanks for you coverage; I haven't had time to watch any Olympics but it's nice to see that we are winning some events!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Gabby!!! I too loved gymnastics in high school and was trained and helped by my coaches to achieving my goal --the iron cross.
ReplyDeleteOur coaches taught by example. They were accomplished men and very physical. Even as I viewed them as old at the time, I was amazed at their brute strength at the same time awed by their total body control.
If you were a gymnastics coach, no doubt you are in very good shape. My question to you Uncle Gryphen is can you please manhandle and twist that panty waist Todd Palin's arm into submission and make him spill a full dossier on his life with the skank? Please??????!!!!!
She's adorable! But why is she chewing on her medal?!?!?! That has to be one of the strangest medal photos I've ever seen....is she making sure that it's really gold? Very cute, but very odd!!
ReplyDeleteIt is done as self-assurance (As in "Is this real? Did I really do this?") Done in the early moments after earning an award, or receiving a cash prize. Gabby tested her mettle, then tested her metal and medal.
DeleteDemonstrates her complete ownership. Good for Gabby!
herk
They all do that. I've seen nearly every olympian with a photo op of them chomping on it!
Delete... and, she is not "chewing" the medal, but rather biting it, to assure herself it is not base metal, that would taste bad or bend. This is a symbolic act.
Delete~h
Obviously this is your first Olympics. That is a rather classic photo op.
DeleteAnd it is BASE metal. Olympic medal haven't been solid gold since the '30's or so. Heard that one on NPR the other day. It' jut a very small % gold.
DeleteIt doesn't hurt that she's--in local vernacular --cute as a bug. I was discussing her win with several residents of the old folks home where I work. None of them commented on her being black, but they were all mighty proud she's a fellow Virginian!
ReplyDeleteShe is adorable! Her ability, presence, poise, and smile make her awesome. She is definitely someone you should know...
ReplyDeleteI live in Iowa, which is where Gabby moved to to train. We've been hearing a lot about her in our local news for the months leading up to the Olympics. I'm so glad she won the gold!
ReplyDeleteThe diversity within the Fab 5 is an indication of the diversity in America. When we hear so much about racism that still exists in America, it is refreshing to see a group so diverse accomplish so much in the name of the United States of America. We are proud of their individual accomplishments, and ours as a country where diversity is no longer the exception, but the norm.
ReplyDelete********************************************************************************************
It is a sad commentary on Sarah Palin, that even though she purports to represent the interests of women, that she hasn’t posted any article on the accomplishments of these amazing women on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin She has posted all sorts of messages about people in her family, and matters that affect our country. Her failure to comment about these amazing women illustrates much about the true character of Sarah Palin.
http://malialitman.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/what-sarah-palin-didnt-say/
Dominique Dawes was the first African American to win the gold all around in 1996
ReplyDeleteDominique Dawes won Gold on the Team All-Around, not the Individual All-Around in 1996. She also won Bronze on the floor routine that year.
DeleteGabby was SO determined and focused on the balance beam. I couldn't help but admire her.
DeleteThe self discipline and determination to succeed that this young lady demonstrated in amazing. I saw the interview with her mom, and it brought me to tears. Sending your child out of state so she can train and chase her dreams has got to be heart wrenching.
ReplyDeleteGabby, you did your family and your country proud! Congratulations on your Gold Metal, and I wish you nothing but the best! You deserve nothing less.
Did anyone notice how much bigger the gold medal looks when Gabby holds it as compared to when Michael Phelps holds it?
ReplyDeleteHmmm...wonder what it could be. 4'11" vs 6'4" maybe?
beg to differ with you on that one, Gryph. Jockeys.
ReplyDelete