Gabby Douglas, Olympian Gymnast, Announces Official Return to Gymnastics
Gabby Douglas is going for the gold once again.
Eight years after stepping away from the mat, the Olympic gymnast announced that she will be competing at the upcoming Winter Cup on Feb. 24.
“I’m still a competitor at heart,” Gabby shared during her Feb. 6 appearance on NBC News’ Hallie Jackson Now. “After watching the 2022 championships, I was like, ‘I miss competing.'”
Soon, the 28-year-old said she found herself in the gym thinking “maybe I could do this again.”
“From that moment on,” Gabby recalled, “I just started training.”
The Winter Cup will be her first elite gymnastics competition since 2016, when she took “a step back and work on myself and work on my mental state.”
Noting that she “never really announced a retirement” back then, Gabby continued, “I didn’t want to end this sport how I did in 2016.”
The athlete added, “I love this sport and I never wanted to walk away on a bad day. I want to make sure I really give it my all and end on a good note.”