US black teen, Gabby Douglas, makes Olympic history, publicly praises God
Photo credit: ClaraDon
By USWeekly Staff. Gabby Douglas, 16, made history Thursday when the U.S. Olympic gymnast won the gold medal in the women’s all-around final competition. She became the first African-American to win the top prize.
“Someone mentioned that I was the first black American (to win the all-around gold), and I said, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot about that!’ I feel so honored,” she told reporters via The Associated Press after her win.
Gabby was raised in Virginia and began training at the age of 6. When she was 9, her father, Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Douglas, went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I just had to pray to God just to keep him safe and tell the angels to keep my dad safe and come home,” she recently explained to NBC Nightly News of her father being away.
After having to miss many of her competitions, Gabby’s father was able to attend her U.S. Olympic trials on June 29. It was the first time he had seen his daughter for the first time since October 2010, according to USA Today. Holding an American flag with “Go Gabby Douglas, Love, Dad” on the front, Gabby was thrilled to see her dad in the stands.
“I’m like, ‘Who’s calling my name?’ And then I look up. It was my dad and his friend, and I haven’t seen him in a while,” Gabby explained. “They were holding up the flag. And I almost felt like bawling. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, Dad!” Read more from this story HERE.
iTickets.com also reports: Following her emotional win the 16 year old gave an interview with NBC and celebrated the moment by praising God and offering her thanks for an amazing blessing.
“It is everything I thought it would be; being the Olympic champion, it definitely is an amazing feeling. And I give all the glory to God. It is kind of a win win situation. The glory goes up to Him and the blessings fall down on me,” Douglas testified in the interview.
Later she also took to social networking site Twitter to continue her praise. She tweeted, Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things He does for me.
Douglas also stated on her Twitter account that she “loves my family, dogs & most importantly God.”
Douglas, a Virginia native, earned her spot on the U.S. Womens Gymnastics team after she defied expectations at the American Cup in March. She initially only competed in the cup as an alternate, but she outscored the favorite in the U.S. Gymnastic team, Jordyn Wieber. Read more from this story HERE.
