By WILL GRAVES
AP Sports Writer
LONDON (AP) - Gabby Douglas believed two years ago, when she convinced her mother to let her move halfway across the country.
Martha Karolyi became a
convert over the winter, when the bubbly teenager with the electric
smile developed the tenacity required to be a champion.
Under the brightest lights, on the biggest stage, that belief shattered a glass ceiling.
Even if the first African-American to win an Olympic all-around title didn't quite realize it.
"I kind of forgot about that," Douglas said with a laugh.
Don't worry, Gabby, the world is going to have fun reminding you.
Douglas soared her way into
history Thursday night, leading the whole way to climb a mountain paved
by Ron Galimore, Dominique Dawes and a handful of others who showed the
sport isn't just for the white or the privileged.
"How inspiring is that?"
said Natalie Hawkins, the woman who allowed her then 14-year-old "baby"
daughter to move from Virginia to Iowa in 2010 after Douglas convinced
her that she was good enough to compete at the top.
She didn't have to wait long to find out.
Douglas was still trying to
get used to the feeling of having her second gold medal in three days
around her neck when Oprah chimed in.
"OMG I'm so THRILLED for Gabby. Flowing happy tears!!" Winfrey posted on Twitter.
Karolyi, the U.S. women's
team coordinator called it "history made" while Liang Chow, the coach
who channeled Douglas' precocious talent, believes his star pupil is
"ready to move onto higher things."
She certainly looked like
it on a flawless night in which Douglas grabbed the gold during her
first event and never let silver medalist Viktoria Komova of Russia come
close to wrenching it from her hands.
Explosive on vault and
exquisite on uneven bars, Douglas never trailed. Though she sealed the
third straight women's all-around title for an American with a floor
routine that delighted the O2 Arena crowd, it was her pretty set on beam
that provided the difference.
The event is a 90-second
test of nerves, a twisting, turning ballet on a 4-inch slab of wood 4
feet off the ground. And for months, Douglas struggled to find a rhythm
on it.
She led the national
championships after the first day, only to hop off the beam moments into
her first rotation of the finals, opening the door for world champion
and friendly rival Jordyn Wieber to claim the title.
Wieber watched the Olympic
finals from 20 rows up in the stands with the rest of Team USA after
failing to make it out of qualifying. Teammate Aly Raisman never really
recovered from a workmanlike set on bars and an uncharacteristic wobble
on beam.
Raisman ended up tying with
Russia's Aliya Mustafina for third, but the steely Russian earned the
bronze on a tiebreaker, a wrenching setback for the American captain, an
integral part of the group that won the first U.S. team gold in 16
years on Tuesday.
There were no such
technicalities involved with Douglas, not even on the beam. She dazzled
with a sparkling 15.5, never wavering, never wobbling, never losing
focus.
This was the same girl who
was so out of sorts when the team arrived in London a couple of weeks
ago that Karolyi ordered Chow to give her a little pep talk?
Chow's message that day
wasn't complicated. He urged Douglas to ignore the pain in her leg from a
minor muscle strain and get down to business.
"He just said that everyone
has pain, so just go out there and you know, why are you focused on
that?" Douglas said. "He said, 'You're at the Olympics, and put that
behind you, and, if you don't push it now you don't have a chance,
you'll regret it.'"
She didn't. Not after
winning her mother over with the idea her future lay in Iowa with Chow
instead of her family's home in Virginia Beach. Not after those long
days in the gym when she would ask herself, "Why do I have to do this?"
only to go and do it anyway.
And not after a little
boost from Karolyi. The legendary coach made Douglas a surprising choice
for the American Cup in New York in March. At the time, Karolyi said
she just wanted Douglas to get some needed experience against a talented
field.
But she knew.
She'd known for months.
She'd seen it during the
training camps at the Karolyi Ranch north of Houston, where Douglas
started to showcase the world-class talent Chow had spent a year
unlocking.
Douglas went and won the
whole thing that day at Madison Square Garden as an alternate, the
asterisk next to her name officially making her ineligible for the title
actually won by Wieber.
Still, the message had been sent. Douglas was ready.
"I foresee it," Karolyi said. "She charged every single competition she did better and better."
By then, Douglas' mom was
won over. She raised four kids largely on her own, and tearfully made
the decision to let her youngest train with Chow. She doubted herself
but looked at the list of "pros" and "cons" her eldest daughter wrote
up, and understood go she had to let go. Just a little.
Even if it hurt.
"I must have lost my marbles," Hawkins said. "But she wanted this more than anything."
And Douglas worked like it. Chow believes she just needed time to grow up. She's just 16.
Funny, she certainly looked
all grown up on Thursday night. On a night that would turn most girls
her age to tears, Douglas smiled. She laughed. She acted as if she
expected to be here all along.
"She demonstrated she is an Olympic champion," Chow said.
One that could have a major influence on her sport.
Unlike some of her peers,
Douglas looks like she's having fun out there. There is no drama when
she competes, just joy. She has an energy that will make advertising
executives swoon and likely turn her into a millionaire in the near
future.
But this was never about money. It wasn't even about breaking down barriers. It was simply about challenging herself.
She never doubted she could be the best. Even when she was the only one who thought so.
"I wanted to seize the moment," she said.
History was just a bonus.
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2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
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