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Louise Thomas
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Don’t be mistaken, Gabby Douglas isn’t retiring her Team USA leotard for good.
As anticipation for the 2024 Paris Olympics ramps up, competing teams are locking in their rosters. For the US women’s gymnastics, competitors Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera, Joscelyn Roberson, and Leanne Wong will be representing the team this year, unfortunately without Douglas.
The 28-year-old all-around Olympic world champion from 2012 can’t compete in the Paris games due to a foot injury. However, Douglas hopes to return to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In fact, she’s slowly getting back in the gym, focusing on developing new skills and relearning old ones.
Speaking to E! News, the athlete reflected on the difficulty in stepping out of the 2024 competition. “It was a very bittersweet moment for me to close my 2024 chapter,” she told the outlet’s Francesca Amiker.
Douglas wasn’t planning on being a spectator at the Paris games. In May, the three-time Olympic gold medalist pulled out of the US gymnastics championships in Fort Worth, Texas due to an ankle injury from training week, according to an ESPN report.
The last Olympic games Douglas took part in were in Rio de Janeiro eight years ago. If Douglas’ injury hadn’t prevented her from performing this year, she would’ve made history as the oldest American woman to compete since 1952.
Still, the talented gymnast has already made her irrevocable mark on the sport as the first Black gymnast to win the all-around title in 2012, her first Olympic games in London.
As her ankle heals and her training continues, Douglas is thankful that her body can recover and possibly put her back on the roster in 2028.
She told E! News: “I was super grateful, and still am, that I have the body type that I have, and I can still do it at the age of 28 and even at 32 in LA.”
Since 2016, her eight-year hiatus has changed her mindset completely. After the games in Rio, Douglas wasn’t sure she would return to the sport, believing that she may have already aged out at 20.
“When I did take that six-year break, I was like, ‘I can’t do it.’ I was always thinking about coming back to gymnastics, but I was like, I don’t know, because it’s always, ‘You have to be 16. You have to be fresh,’” she admitted. “I was called old at my second Olympic games.”
That said, changing her mental outlook was about changing her physical routine. Douglas focused on her diet, finding the right regimen that strengthened her body and kept her energized during workouts – and her workouts aren’t easy.
Douglas confessed: “When I hit the gym, it’s very intense. I will push myself to the brink. I literally will do the most, like weights head-to-toe, a lot of cardio, a lot of strength training, seriously, all of it.”
