Gabby Douglas wins gold in women’s gymnastics Olympics all around (video)

She has done the whole US proud. Gabby Douglas has won gold medal in women’s gymnastics Olympics all around (video)

The ‘Flying Squirrel’ aka Gabby Douglas has given a new boost to the US women gymnastics. She has won the London Olympics 2012 all-around gold after a very tough competition with Russian girls who did give their best in all forms of gymnastics. But Gabriel Douglas did better than her Russian competitor and won the day for her country. So this year, despite many apprehensions, the United States of America’s team in Olympics gymnastics has won two important gold medals including in team and all-around competition.

There was a lot of disappointment just a few days ago when Jordyn Wieber had lost the plot in all-around semis when she was shown the door despite being the fourth best in the competition. There is an Olympic rule that bars more than two gymnasts from one country. She didn’t really deserve to be ousted, but the rules made it impossible for her to continue in the contention. When she was disqualified, many thought there was no hope left for the US in all-around. But the little girl has shown that she is better than the best and she is very tough to face any sort of pressure at such a big stage.

Her victory marks a new high for US gymnastics and after a very long time a US gymnast has been able to win a gold in the all-around. But her victory also has a historic overtone. She is the first African-American to win a gold medal in the all-around ever in Olympics.

Though I am personally against seeing everything from the lenses of color and race, but a reader has rightly pointed out that with her victory, African Americans have one more icon they can look up to. “It’s important to have role models to look up to, which the media doesn’t often offer young black girls. Gabby accomplished a major feat and it shouldn’t be taken lightly but breaking the color barrier is ALWAYS positive, even if your privilege doesn’t allow you to think so”, says a reader.

After her emphatic win that caps her sudden rise in the world of gymnastic, Gabby told the media, “Someone mentioned that I was the first black American (to win it) and I said, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot about that!’ I feel so honoured…I hope that I inspire people. I want to inspire people. My mother said you can inspire a nation.”

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Posted by admin on August 3, 2012. Filed under Life & Style. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry