Gabby Douglas on How Falling 7 Times at an Event Led to Olympic Gold
When I started this journey, I never knew what it actually took for me to get to the Olympics. I had a lot of self doubt. You have to believe that you're good enough and you have to not give up, My older sister, Arielle, got me involved. I saw that she was doing these gymnastics deal and I, you know, wanted to do what she was doing. She saw a lot of potential in me and she told my mom to put me in gymnastics. [MUSIC] I have learned from my mom and my sisters to always fight, and never give up. No matter what the odds look like, just to keep, keep going. [MUSIC] In 2011, I had strained my hamstring and my hip flexor. And when I went onto the competition floor, I fell seven times. And it was so embarrassing, and my mom told me you know that's a winner is when you fall and you get right back up and you don't quit, and I remember my coaches were like when we get back to they gym we're gonna get it. And I was like okay. Like he made me sweat. 2012 came around and I got invited to do the American Cup and I was a different person, I was a different gymnast, and everyone was just like dang, like who is this girl? And I remember like everybody was talking about it. And it was that drive, I'm not gonna be embarrassed again, it was I have a talent, and I'm gonna use it. [APPLAUSE] 16 year old Gabby Douglas won the gold for the best all around gymnast. And it's the first time a woman of color has won the individual all around gold medal in the Olympics. I never thought that I would be a trailblazer. My mom always used to say, inspire a generation. And then when that happened, we were like whoa. We never knew that we actually could. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]
Gabby Douglas may be an Olympic champion, but that doesn't mean she's immune to failure. Far from it, actually.
The talented gymnast opened up in Time’s exclusive Firsts series about injuries and poor performance only one year before she dominated the 2012 London Olympics, and we think everyone could learn a few things from her.
"In 2011, I had strained my hamstring and my hip flexor, and when I went onto the competition floor, I fell seven times," she says. "It was so embarrassing and my mom told me that’s a winner is when you fall and you get back up and you don’t quit. I remember my coaches were like 'all right, when we get back to the gym, we’re going to get it.' He made me sweat."
That hard work and sweat really paid off, to say the least, and Douglas didn't even have to wait until the actual Olympics to see the drastic improvement that her newfound mentality reaped.
"2012 came around and I got invited to do the American Cup, and I remember I was a different person, I was a different gymnast, and everyone was like 'dang, who is this girl?' I remember everybody was talking about it," she says. "It was that drive, it was I’m not going to be embarrassed again, it was I have a talent and I’m going to use it."
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As the first woman of color to win the individual all-around gold medal at the Olympics and the first American gymnast to win solo and team all-around gold medals at the same Olympics, we think it's safe to say that she sure used her talent wisely.
Watch the video above and check out more Firsts at time.com/firsts.
