The Olympics begin this week in Paris, and the opening ceremonies are Friday. Until then, we look back at some athletes from Hampton Roads who won gold on the world’s biggest stage.
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Gabby Douglas flipped, vaulted and smiled her way to stardom in London in 2012, becoming the first Black gymnast to win an all-around gold medal at the Olympics.
A few days earlier, Douglas and her “Fierce Five” gymnastics teammates won the United States its first Olympic team title since 1996. Douglas was the first American gymnast to win individual all-around gold and team gold at the same Olympics.
She was 16.
Douglas, born in Newport News, later moved to Virginia Beach and there spent her formative years at Excalibur Gymnastics. She left the gym — and Hampton Roads — to train in Iowa.
“Douglas’ departure from the gym, when she switched to coach Liang Chow, and a few critical comments about her Hampton Roads coaches, led to public accusations of unpaid expenses and created some ill will between her family and the Virginia Beach gym,” The Pilot’s Chris Carlson wrote during the Games in 2012. “Much of that was buried, at least for the moment, under Douglas’ gold-medal performance.”
Coaches, former teammates and parents gathered at Excalibur to watch Douglas win gold.
Douglas turned in a bravura performance for the all-around gold. Her scores on vault (15.966) and balance beam (15.500) won those events, and she performed an “electric floor routine, flashing a dazzling smile and lots of pizzazz,” the Associated Press wrote.
“I wanted to seize the moment,” Douglas told reporters afterward.
Postscript
Douglas returned to the Olympics in 2016 and was part of the gold-medal-winning U.S. team. She was the subject of a 2014 Lifetime film — “The Gabby Douglas Story” — and also had her own reality TV series, “The Douglas Family Gold.” Douglas, 28, came out of retirement this year in a comeback bid and hoped to make the Paris Games. But she withdrew from the USA Gymnastics Championships, citing an ankle injury.
This year’s 757 Olympians
Leah Crouse, field hockey (Virginia Beach)
Justin Dowell, cycling/BMX (Virginia Beach)
Grant Holloway, track and field (Chesapeake)
Stephanie Roble, sailing (Old Dominion)
Quincy Wilson, track and field (Chesapeake)
Chidi Okezie, track and field for Nigeria (Hampton University)
