Gabby Douglas’s dreams of winning a fourth Olympic gold medal this summer appear to be over after she withdrew from the US gymnastics championships due to an ankle injury.
The 28-year-old, who won the all-around and team gold at London 2012 before following up with team gold at Rio 2016, had hoped to compete in Paris after missing the Tokyo Games. But the injury, which she sustained in a training session this week, has ended her ambition of becoming the oldest US female gymnast to compete at the Olympics since 1952 for now.
“I love this sport and I love pushing my limits,” Douglas told ESPN on Wednesday. “I hope I can inspire both my peers and the next generation of gymnasts that age is just a number, and you can accomplish anything you work hard for.”
Douglas was the first Black gymnast to win the all-around title at the Olympics when she triumphed in London. She often received vitriolic criticism from those who deemed her unpatriotic, particularly when she did not put her hand on her heart while standing on the podium at the Rio Olympics. When she decided to attempt a comeback in Paris, Douglas said she was hoping to enjoy her sport again.
“I never wanted to have a hatred for the sport that I love,” Douglas said on the Time Magazine podcast last November. “I didn’t want to end it that way. I never announced retirement, I always kept in the back of my mind, like: ‘We have to finish on a better note.’ My family were saying, too: ‘Even if starting out, you just get back in the gym and you love it again, I think that’s a step.’”
Douglas looked below her best when she qualified for the US championships in April, but still had hopes of making Paris 2024. The US championships were her last chance to qualify for next month’s Olympic trials.
On Wednesday, she said she had not given up hope of making the team for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“I proved to myself and to the sport that my skills remain at an elite level,” Douglas told ESPN. “My plan is to continue to train for the L.A. 2028 Olympics. It would be such an honor to represent the U.S. at a home Olympics.”
