Gabby Douglas

“Turn your dream into your goal”.

Gabby Douglas lives by this and it got her through her difficult journey to be a world class gymnast. Being an Olympian takes hard work, and through that she learned what it takes to make a champion and the meaning behind it.  Gabby Douglas is a girl who fell in love with gymnastics at a young age. With the help of her loving family, she was able to pursue her dream to be one of the best in the sport. She was born in Virginia Beach, but Gabby made the life changing decision to move to Iowa alone to train with her dream coach. She competed in many life changing competitions, mainly between 2010 and 2012, that ultimately led her to winning the 2012 Summer Olympics. Not only did she win the Olympics, but she became the first US female gymnast to win both the team and individual Gold in one Olympic game. Being passionate about something makes one who they are. Not everyone has the passion it takes to turn their dreams into goals, but that passion makes someone into a hero. True passion for something means you would do anything it takes to keep doing what  you love, no matter what. Motivation from others help, but self motivation is what affects outcomes. If you are not motivated to do something for yourself, then it will not happen. Gabby Douglas has true passion and motivation for gymnastics, which is seen when she does anything to keep doing the sport, making her a true hero.

Gabby Douglas’ self motivation got her through different challenges she faced, making her a hero. Gabby started training in gymnastics competitively from a young age, “By the time she was in her early teens, she was known for her uneven bars routine, which netted the young gymnast several medals and awards” (Gabby Douglas). A sport like gymnastics is extremely demanding both physically and mentally, and takes hard work to be successful. As much as others may have motivated Douglas to continue gymnastics, to be able to be so competitive as such a young age is because of her self motivation. For Gabby to be able to have award winning routines as a young teen shows since she was young, she was always motivated to do her best. Gabby made the decision to move from Virginia to Iowa to train with a coach she knew would help her be her best: “Iowa's fields, mile after mile of them, threw off Douglas when she arrived. Where was the water? Where was Virginia's traffic?”(New heights for 'Flying Squirrel'; She'd rather miss home than Olympics). After making the difficult decision to leave home to be coached by her dream coach, Gabby began to noticed how she missed home. She talked about how she missed seeing the things that were normal to have in Virginia like the water and the traffic. Many athletes that leave home often are not able to continue performing well because of the change in environment and the home sickness some can face. Despite Douglas feeling a little homesick, her motivation from her family, and most importantly from herself kept her going strong. Self motivation resulted in Gabby Douglas to be successful at a young age even through times where she felt out of place and alone.

Gabby Douglas’ inspiring amount of passion for gymnastics shows she is a hero. Before Gabby began gymnastics, her older sister Arielle taught her all she knew when it came to gymnastic, “Arielle encouraged their mother to enroll Douglas in gymnastic classes when she noticed that Douglas at the age of four had taught herself how to do the same cartwheel with one hand”(Gabrielle Douglas). Gabby Douglas began experimenting with, and excelling in  gymnastics at a young age. Often times when someone gets involved with such a demanding sport at a young age, they get burned out after five to ten years. However, Gabby stuck onto the sport for over ten years only falling more in love with it. Since the time she was four and learned a one handed cartwheel, her passion continued to grow. While training at her old gym, Gabby went to a clinic with her dream coach and discovered that, to be successful, she has to be coached by him: “When she was 14, Douglas made the decision to train with coach Liang Chow in Des Moines, Iowa, leaving her family behind in Virginia Beach”(Gabby Douglas). To be able to leave your family at such a young age shows how much she loved being a gymnast. She would not have been able to get herself and her family to let her move across the country if she was not passionate about the sport. In addition, Gabby only met the coach Liang Chow once, so the trust she had in him was driven by her passion for gymnastics. Because of the amount of passion Gabby had for gymnastics, she was able to continue to excel in the sport and make life changing decisions to help her be the best.

Gabby Douglas demonstrates passion and motivation through her challenging childhood and gymnastics life making her a hero. Gabby’s motivation for gymnastics made her be successful starting at a young age, even when she faced challenges like leaving home. Her passion for the sport helped her take risks and never quit. Once I learned originally about Gabby Douglas’s story, I was about six and she had just won the Olympics. Gabby fell in love with gymnastics at such a young age, and despite what others said, she stuck onto her dream. For as long as I can remember, I have tumbled and flipped around my house saying I wanted to be a cheerleader much like Gabby did for gymnastics. However, my mom would never sign me up. Gabby not giving up on her dream inspired me to do the same. She inspired me to hold onto my dream still almost ten years later to this day. Because of her story, I am living my dream right now, competing at one of the highest levels of competitive cheer with my dream team.  Gabby Douglas’ victory at the Olympics is inspiring on it’s own and makes her a hero. However, her journey to get there and what she overcame is what makes her a hero and a true inspiration to me. No matter what got in her way, Gabby never gave up on her dream. She made her dream into her goal and never looked back.

Works Cited

     Douglas, Gabby, and Michelle Burford. Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of Faith. Zondervan, 2013.

     "Gabby Douglas." Gale Biography in Context, Gale, 2012. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1650008385/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=10007ebf. Accessed 14 Jan. 2019.

     "Gabrielle Douglas." Newsmakers, vol. 4, Gale, 2013. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1618005762/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=9be125f4. Accessed 15 Jan. 2019.

     "New heights for 'Flying Squirrel'; She'd rather miss home than Olympics." Washington Times [Washington, DC], 31 July 2012, p. A01. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A298157415/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=0cf71a4f. Accessed 15 Jan. 2019.

     Union, Wonderful. “Official Site.” Gabby Douglas, 2019, gabrielledouglas.com/biography.