Gabby Douglas, three-time Olympic gold medalist and trailblazer in gymnastics, is poised to make her return to competition this month at the Winter Cup in Louisville. Since her last appearance at the 2016 Rio Olympics and now coming back with the statement, “I never announced a retirement. I didn’t want to end this sport like I did in 2016. I wanted to take a step back and work on myself and my mental state.“ Douglas has openly expressed her ambition to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

While the 2012 London Games’ all-around gold solidified Douglas’s rise, her journey was paved with sacrifices, most notably by her determined mother, Natalie Hawkins. These financially rife travails eventually paid off, but at what cost?

Gabby Douglas’ family’s financial rollercoaster

Natalie Hawkins was a single mom and to raise four children was hard for her. She worked multiple jobs to make ends meet for her family. Despite the financial strain, Hawkins recognized her daughter’s extraordinary talent and devoted herself to nurturing Gabby’s Olympic aspirations. Months before Gabby Douglas’s historic triumph at the London Games, Hawkins faced financial turmoil.

Hawkins filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, as revealed by documents submitted in Virginia earlier that year, according to TMZ. The filings detailed debts amounting to $79,754.14, underscoring the financial strain Hawkins was under despite her daughter’s burgeoning success in the gymnastics world.

But Hawkins found herself grappling with mounting financial obligations before the 2012 Summer Olympics held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The bankruptcy documents disclosed debts owed to creditors like Capital One, Sprint, and T-Mobile, totalling over $6,000, along with outstanding balances to an orthodontist in Iowa, where Gabby trained at the age of 14, and a student loan amounting to $4,350.23. Despite her efforts to address these financial challenges through monthly payments of $408 in February, the road ahead seemed daunting for Hawkins and her family.

Gabby’s Olympic triumph transforms family fortunes

However, the tide soon turned with Gabby’s stellar performance at the Olympics, which catapulted her into the realm of commercial success. Endorsement deals with companies like Proctor and Gamble brand, including its beauty lines such as Olay, Pantene, CoverGirl, and Secret and experts projected potential earnings of $9-10 million over the next four years. “Being the first at anything is always big news,” stated Ahmad Islam, managing partner of the multicultural ad agency Commonground, about Douglas’ groundbreaking gold medal.

Read More: Paris Olympics 2024: Simone Biles Set to Face Threat From Gabby Douglas and Suni Lee for Team USA Quota

For Hawkins and her family, who had struggled to finance Gabby’s training and faced significant financial hurdles, the Olympic triumph represented not only a crowning achievement for their daughter but also a newfound opportunity to alleviate their financial burdens and secure a brighter future. With her return this year, the anticipation mounts to see if she can carve out a spot for herself in Paris in 2024.

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