The Olympic Games are something athletes train for for four long and hard years for. Gabby Douglas was a favorite in gymnastics in the 2012 games in London. She and Aly Raisman were the only two of the Fierce Five who returned to the 2016 Rio games. In the 2016 games, the "Final Five" won gold in the team competition by 8.2 points; keep in mind that at the 2012 games, the girls took gold over Russia by 5 points.
After the 2012 Olympics, Douglas was deemed as the best gymnast in the world. She won gold in the team competition as well as the individual all-around. When she came back from those games, she appeared on multiple shows and had her face on a Kellogg's cereal box. She seemed to be on top of the world, especially for only being 16 years old at the time.
Now, at age 20, she competed in Brazil. She once again wanted to compete in the all-around competition. Teams are allowed to send two girls per team for all-around. This year, Douglas went up against her teammates; Simone Biles and Aly Raisman. The girls took first, second, and third in the competition; since Gabby placed third, she was unable to compete for the United States in the all-around final. She competed in the uneven bars as well as the team competition; the team placed first and she took seventh on the uneven bars.
Douglas was rarely ever seen without a smile on at the London games, but in Rio it seemed hard to catch that smile. She was targeted for her attitude and patriotism at the games by plenty of fans. When U.S. won the team competition, Douglas didn't place her hand over her heart for the playing of the national anthem. She later apologized for doing so. She also received the nickname of "Crabby Gabby" according to CNN. Many fans believe she was not cheering on her teammates enough and was "pouting" too much for being on the biggest sports stage. After Aly Raisman took the silver medal in the all-around competition, Raisman posted on Instagram that Gabby sent her a thoughtful text message and her other teammates dropped a note off in her room.
Gabby Douglas has been competing in competitive gymnastics since the age of six, she puts hours and hours into training for a sport she loves. These Olympic gymnasts spend around 300 days a year in the gym and give up memorable high school moments just to train and perfect their sport. For someone to give that much time and effort to something should be admirable in and of itself. All athletes have highs and lows in their careers, back in 2012 Douglas could not be stopped, this year she is still competing incredibly and was able to easily beat other girls from other countries in the all-around qualification. Instead of being criticized for every little move, she should be praised for all the hard work she puts into representing our country.
