Gabrielle Douglas – An Inspiring Example Of Determination And Resilience

Ask a young child who they look up to. Majority of these children will say their fathers, grandfathers, perhaps even a well-known male actor or athlete. Very rarely do people identify women as their role models. Only very recently have females begun to be viewed as idol figures. Females being looked up to more and more is influential to younger children as well as even some adults. Many female athletes are worthy of being role models just as much as most males. Gabrielle Douglas is a wonderful example of how a woman can become a triumphant and successful athlete. She not only overcame various types of obstacles; she got through them ten times stronger than she was before she went through them. Gabby’s journey of resilience, strong-willed determination, and triumph has provided people all over with the type of influence that can be used to inspire and transform lives.

Gabrielle Douglas is an African-American gymnast. She is the first of her nationality to be deemed as the all-around champion of the 2012 Summer Olympics, meaning she received all of the gold medals for the many different types of events in the gymnastics meet of the Olympic games. Born on December 31, 1995, to Natalie Hawkins and Timothy Douglas, Gabby went through her more impressable years during the early 2000s. This was a decade in which families were struggling and continuously changing. Divorce rates and remarriages were at an increased number during this time. To go along with the rise of divorces, the number of single parents was directly correlated with these numbers. As it happens, Gabby’s mother, Natalie, was one of these single parents. As a single mother, Natalie often struggled making ends meet for her family. Finding jobs that paid well enough to support them was quite difficult. Most of the factories offering low wages were searching for men workers. This meant that employers would often pass over Natalie when looking for potential job candidates. The few women they did hire were not of different nationalities. With this came financial struggle. There was a point in time when Gabby reported being so bad off that they were homeless.

Living in a less fortunate society, the community was not necessarily concerned about whether equality was present or not. Many of the families around Gabby’s were worrying mostly about making ends meet and providing the essentials of life for their own households. While her father, Timothy, was not completely absent, he was very unreliable and often far from the family. On many occasions he failed to pay child support and neglected his paternal duties all together. Gabby has had a relatively strenuous relationship with her father since her childhood. The financial struggles Gabrielle has faced as well as her almost nonexistent relationship with her father, indeed, had large impacts on her ability to stand as a strong influential woman. Behind every successful story is a form of motivation. For Gabrielle there are plenty of motivational factors from her childhood that have helped her push herself to greatness. Gabby coerced her mother into letting her attend a gymnastics academy, which her mother could only barely afford at the time. While at this academy Gabby quickly outshined the other students and soon took home many awards from competitions. It was clear that she was ready to expand her horizons and look for something more challenging. With some more persuasions she talked her mother into allowing her to venture to West Des Moines, Iowa with a trainer that was nearly a stranger. Here, so early in her career, Gabby was faced with inequality and differences. She was poorer than all the other students and came from a less stable background. She was faced with multiple instances of discrimination and doubt.

On multiple occasions she would talk with her mother on the phone and they would toss around the idea of her going back home. At times the training was rigorous and tough, however it was never too tough for Gabby. Fast forwarding to the 2016 Summer Olympics, and she has already won the all-around champion medals in 2012. During the Olympics in 2016 Gabby received criticism and doubts of her patriotism. She told interviewers that this kind of doubt really hurt her since she has dedicated her life to representing USA, (Zirin). Still even after this criticism and hurt she was able to bounce back and participate in the events at hand. Recently, Gabby was involved in an incident which multiple female gymnasts openly admitted they had been victims of sexual abuse from their team doctor, Gabby being one of them. After this announcement there were many negative comments posted towards Gabby about victim shaming. Even after these hateful comments and actions, Gabby was still able to bounce back and continue on with her life with a positive attitude. Not only does it take training and time to be a great gymnast and person, but it also takes trials and the resilience that comes from them. Gabby’s champion attitude began developing at a very young age. Her older sister introduced her to gymnastics at the age four. By the age of six Gabby had taught herself to do a one-armed cartwheel. With no professional training, it took a lot of time and practice for her to get this stunt mastered. Some people struggle mastering this stunt even with the help of a professional trainer. One trait of Gabby’s that her siblings are not hesitant to note is her determination. No matter how difficult the task at hand she always has the will power to master it. Gabby’s strong will showed itself on many different occasions. When she was training at the academy in Iowa she faced many challenges. Some of the other students were more advanced than her and when competing she knew that she had to be better. With this she took to training without anyone needing to tell her how important it is that she do well. Despite the many obstacles put in her way, she always overcame them. She would stay long, countless hours at the gym practicing and improving her moves and routines.

To her own eyes her stunts were never good enough. She was the toughest critic there was when it came to her performances. In her mind there was always room for more work and improvement, which led to even longer days at the gym. As the competitions became more challenging, working her way up to the Olympics, Gabby was determined to prove all of the spectators who doubted her wrong. In the end she did just this. The level of strong will and determination Gabby demonstrates throughout her life and career is a great lesson for any young person who may be aspiring to become something great. Not very many people look up to failures. Every role model usually demonstrates some type of success. Though there were many challenges Gabby has had many successes in her lifetime. She won her first medal at the age of eight. From this time on she continued to strive for greatness in all she did, resulting in many more wins. Gabby reached her biggest success at a fairly young age compared to some. She became the first African American competitor to receive gold medals for all the gymnastic events at the Summer Olympics at only age 16.

Triumph comes in many different forms for Gabby. Every obstacle she ever had to overcome was a small victory for her. If she had to work for it, she considers it a win. While she enjoys the titles she has earned her victories were about more than just the medals for Gabby. When she won the 2012 Olympics she was excited to be able to share the triumph with many other young gymnasts. She wants them to know anything is possible if you just put enough of yourself and work into it. Even after her new found fame, Gabby remains humble and tries her best to use her triumphs as a form of teaching for people.

Gabrielle Douglas is an all-around champion and not just in the world of gymnastics. She has the resilience and many triumphs to prove it. Today, she is taking time off from gymnastics and focusing on growing into her own person instead of someone that society thinks she should be. While she will always love the sport and has not mentioned her retirement from it, she just needed time off to remember the Gabriele Douglas before all the fame. Using her strong-willed determination to better herself, she hopes to come out with one more big win, finding her true self. Gabrielle is an influential woman, that many young people can look up to. She is an example of how people can make it out of tough times. Even when coming from a poor background it is possible to reach the top. It just takes hard work and a strong will. With the same type of determination and resilience that Gabby has anyone can be triumphant.