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Gabby Douglas Facts & Worksheets

Gabby Douglas is the first African-American gymnast who won an Olympic individual all-around event at the 2012 Summer Games.

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Gabby Douglas is the first African-American gymnast who won an Olympic individual all-around event at the 2012 Summer Games. Douglas also won several gold medals for the U.S. team competitions at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.

See the fact file below for more information on the Gabby Douglas or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Gabby Douglas worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BIOGRAPHY

  • Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas is an African-American gymnast who was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on December 31, 1995. She is the daughter of Timothy Douglas and Natalie Hawkins.
  • Douglas started doing gymnastics at the age of three. She perfected a straight cartwheel using a technique that she learned from Arielle, her older sister and former gymnast.
  • The following year, Douglas taught herself how to do a one-hand cartwheel, which she perfected quickly.
  • At the age of six, Douglas began taking formal gymnastics classes with encouragement from her sister and the permission of her mother. Douglas was named a Virginia State Gymnastics Champion in 2004.

DOUGLAS’ GYMNASTICS CAREER

  • At the age of fourteen, Douglas moved to West Des Moines. She left her hometown and family in order to train under the renowned coach Liang Chow, who was famous for molding American gymnast Shawn Johnson into an Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion.
  • In West Des Moines, Travis and Missy Parton volunteered to be Douglas’ family, and she became an older sister to the Parton’s four daughters, who were also taking lessons with Liang Chow.
  • During the 2010 Nastia Liukin SuperGirl Cup, a televised meet in Massachusetts, Douglas made her first appearance on the national scene. She ranked fourth all-around.
  • Douglas also ranked third on the balance beam, sixth on vault, and ninth all-around in the junior division in the 2010 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois.
  • During the 2010 U.S. Junior National Championships, Douglas won the silver medal on the balance beam and ranked fourth all-around. Also, during the 2010 Pan American Championships, Douglas won the uneven bars title.
  • Douglas’ excellent performance helped her place fifth all-around and helped the U.S. team win the gold medal.
  • During the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Douglas was included in the U.S. team that won a gold medal in the team finals in Tokyo, Japan. At the 2012 Olympic Trials in San Jose, California, Douglas won and was selected to be a national team member representing the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
  • Douglas became the first African-American to join the U.S. Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team since Dominique Dawes in 2000. According to an article from American-Gymnast.com, Douglas’ unique power, flexibility, body alignment, and form led to her being compared with Dominique Dawes, a three-time Olympian.
  • Also, Douglas’ high-flying skills and great difficulty score also caught the attention of Martha Karolyi, who was the U.S. Women’s National Team coordinator. Karolyi even nicknamed her the “Flying Squirrel”.

DOUGLAS’ 2012 SUMMER OLYMPICS

  • During the 2012 Summer Olympics that was held in London, Douglas brought home the gold medal together with the other members of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Gymnastics team, Kyla Ross, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, and Jordyn Wieber.
  • It was the first gold medal for the American women’s gymnastics team since 1996. That is why fans worldwide watched nervously as the judges announced the team’s medal win.
  • In the individual all-around, Douglas competed and became the first African-American to win the gold medal in the prestigious event. However, in the uneven bars and individual beam events, Douglas failed to win a medal, only placing eighth and seventh, respectively.
  • In 2012, as a 16-year-old, Douglas proved herself to be a true champion. She went from being underdog to Olympian in a short time. She has already been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the rest of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team.
  • Douglas was also a featured Olympian on the Kellogg’s special edition box of Wheaties cereal.

DOUGLAS’ ROAD TO RIO GAMES

  • After Douglas’ historic Olympic win, she moved to Los Angeles. A year later, she returned to training with Liang Chow and also began training under coach Kittia Carpenter.
  • Douglas did not compete in any events in 2014, but in 2015, she returned to international competition. In 2015, Douglas ranked fourth all-around at City of Jesolo Trophy, second at the all-around U.S. Classics, and fifth overall at the P&G Championships.
  • Douglas was named to the Senior Team and became a member of the 2015 U.S. Women’s World Championship Team. Douglas was also able to achieve a silver medal in the all-around 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
  • In 2016, Douglas was able to achieve the all-around title at the City of Jesolo Trophy, and she ranked fourth all-around at the P&G Championships.
  • In July 2016, during the Olympic trials, Douglas ranked seventh after suffering from two falls on the balance beam. Despite this, she still earned a spot on the 2016 Olympic team, along with Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Raisman.
  • They were able to become the first reigning all-around Olympic Champions to return to competition in the Olympic Games for the second time since Nadia Comaneci in 1980.

Gabby Douglas Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Gabby Douglas across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Gabby Douglas worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Gabby Douglas who is the first African-American gymnast who won an Olympic individual all-around event at the 2012 Summer Games. Douglas also won several gold medals for the U.S. team competitions at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Gabby Douglas Facts
  • Douglas’ Profile Writing
  • Gymnast’s Vocabulary
  • Essentials in Gymnastics
  • Filling the Beam
  • Questions of Douglas
  • Crossword Balance
  • Douglas’ Attributes
  • Fact or Bluff
  • Gymnast’s Analysis
  • Douglas’ Advice

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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