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Make no mistake, Gabby Douglas isn't retiring her Team USA jersey forever.
As anticipation builds for the Paris 2024 Olympics, competing teams are finalizing their rosters. In U.S. women's gymnastics, competitors Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong will represent the team this year, sadly without Douglas.
The 2012 world Olympic champion, 28, will not be able to compete at the Paris Games due to a foot injury. However, Douglas hopes to return for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In fact, she is slowly getting back into the gym, focusing on developing new skills and relearning old ones.
Speaking to Electronic NewsThe athlete reflected on the difficulty of withdrawing from the 2024 competition. “It was a very bittersweet moment for me to close my 2024 chapter,” she told the outlet’s Francesca Amiker.
Douglas had not planned to be a spectator at the Paris Games. In May, the three-time Olympic gold medalist withdrew from the U.S. gymnastics championships in Fort Worth, Texas, because of an ankle injury in training week, according to a report from the University of Nottingham. ESPN report.
Douglas last competed in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro eight years ago. Had Douglas' injury not prevented her from competing this year, she would have 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 grateful that her body can recover and possibly put her back on the roster in 2028.
She said Electronic News“I was super grateful, and still am, to have the body type that I have, and I can still do it at the age of 28 and even at 32 in Los Angeles.”
Since 2016, her eight-year break has changed her mindset completely. After the Rio Games, Douglas was unsure about returning to the sport, believing she might have already come of age in her 20s.
“When I took that six-year break, I was like, ‘I can’t do this. ’ I was always thinking about going back to gymnastics, but I was like, ‘I don’t know, because they always tell me, ‘You have to be 16. You have to be fresh,’” she admitted. “They called me old at my second Olympics.”
That said, changing her mental attitude meant changing her physical routine. Douglas focused on her diet, finding the right regimen that would strengthen her body and keep her energized during workouts—and her workouts aren't easy.
Douglas said: “When I go to the gym, it’s very intense. I push myself to the max. I literally do the most, like lifting weights from head to toe, a lot of cardio, a lot of strength training, really, everything.”
