Gabby Douglas

Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all-around gold medalist and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics, dubbed the "Fierce Five" and the "Final Five" by the media, respectively. She was also a member of the gold-winning American teams at the 2011 and the 2015 World Championships. Additionally, she is the 2012 U.S. champion on the uneven bars and the 2016 American Cup all-around champion.

Douglas is the first African American to win an Olympic individual all-around title, and the first U.S. gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympic Games. With a total of six Olympic and World Championship medals, she is the 11th most decorated U.S. female gymnast of all time.

Douglas's gymnastics successes have led to her life story adaptation in the 2014 Lifetime biopic film, The Gabby Douglas Story, as well as her own reality television series, Douglas Family Gold. She is the author of two books: Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith and Raising the Bar. In 2021, she won the first season of The Masked Dancer.

Early life

Douglas was born on December 31, 1995, to parents Timothy Douglas and Natalie Hawkins-Douglas, in Newport News, Virginia, and grew up in nearby Virginia Beach. She has two older sisters, Arielle and Joyelle, and one older brother, Johnathan. She began training in gymnastics at age six when Arielle convinced their mother to enroll Gabby in classes. Her first gym was Excalibur Gymnastics in Virginia Beach. At the age of eight, Douglas won the Level 4 all-around gymnastics title at the 2004 Virginia State Championships.