Team USA Welcomes Back Gabby Douglas as Olympian Returns to the Mat After 7 Years

Artistic gymnastics fans were blessed to see the return of Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee at the US Classic in August 2023. Many fans were disappointed when Suni had to retreat for recovery. However, people now have another reason to cheer as another American all-around Olympic gold medalist has returned. That spectacular gymnast is none other than Gabby Douglas.

The 3x Olympic Champion was away from elite competition for over seven long years. Gabby Douglas had revealed that she wished to get back and qualify for the Olympics back in July 2023. Now, after a long wait, a social media post has declared that she is officially back.

USA Gymnastics added a new post to its official Instagram account and welcomed Gabby Douglas back. The post carried the caption, “Welcome back, Gabby! @gabbycvdouglas has announced on @nbcnews that she will make her return to elite competition on February 24 at this year’s #WinterCup in Louisville! Ticket link in bio!”

The 28-year-old has been training at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Texas for quite some months. This made it clear to her fans that she would surely return. The Winter Cup will mark the first appearance of Gabby Douglas since the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

While many rumors of her return have been hovering around, fans seriously acknowledged them when Gabby Douglas herself posted about it on Instagram. In fact, she directly stated that she isn’t just training to get back in competition, but is eyeing the upcoming Paris Olympics.

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Will Gabby Douglas be able to surpass the Simone Biles hurdle?

Gabby Douglas posted a couple of pictures of herself while training on a balance beam. The July 2023 post carried the caption, “I wanted to find the joy again for the sport that I absolutely love doing. I know I have a huge task ahead of me and I am beyond grateful and excited to get back out on the floor and even more grateful for all of your support and love. it truly means so much🖤. There’s so much to be said but for now….💪 😎let’s do this #2024.”

Gabby Douglas had also mentioned recovering from her mental health struggles, which she openly admitted to in her previous post dated August 2022. During her last Olympic appearance in Rio, she couldn’t qualify for the all-around category because of the two-participants limit. She was outscored by Simone Biles and Aly Raisman. 

Douglas will be facing an in-form Simone Biles once again, who freshly won four golds and a silver at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championship. Moreover, she will also have several new and old faces competing with her. Will she be able to clear all these hurdles and become an Olympic champ once again?

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