The Flying Squirrel

Known as "The Flying Squirrel," Gabby Douglas won the women's all-around title Thursday night, becoming the third straight American to win gymnastics' biggest prize. It's her second gold medal of the London Games, coming two nights after she and her "Fierce Five" teammates gave the United States its first Olympic title since 1996. She finished with a 62.232 just edging Russia's Viktoria Komova by three tenths of a point. After seeing the final results, Gabby started smiling and looked up at her family who was hugging and crying.

Just a few years ago, Gabby doubted if she would ever make it to the Olympics. Gabby told her mom, Natalie Hawkins, that she wanted to move from their home in Virginia Beach, Va., to train with Chow, who coached Shawn Johnson in 2008. Hawkins said absolutely not; there was no way she was allowing the youngest of her four children to move halfway across the country at 14. After much persistence from her and  her sisters, Natalie reluctantly let her sister join Chow.


Look at her now. Not only did Gabby advance for the United States instead of World Champion Jordyn Wieber but she also held off the Russians to claim gold in the all around. She should be very proud that all of her hard work has finally paid off.