With the 2024 Paris Olympics set to begin in just a couple of days, gold medalist and gymnast Gabby Douglas reminisced about her time getting back into practice amid her ankle injury.
The 28-year-old revealed that her journey to the Olympics had come to an end this time around. Unfortunately, Gabby suffered an ankle injury while practicing her signature move which prevented her from proceeding. In June she recalled in an Instagram post, “Wow, what a journey. First off, I just wanted to say that I am forever grateful for all of your support, grace, and love. It truly has touched my heart.”
“I’m sad to say that due to a foot injury during practice, I will not be able to continue my 2024 journey. This may be the end of this chapter but not the end of my gymnastics story.”
Gabby hasn’t returned to the Olympics since winning gold in Rio back in 2016. “I was like, ‘I can’t do it.’ I was always thinking about coming back to gymnastics, but I was like, I don’t know, because it’s always, ‘You have to be 16. You have to be fresh.’ I was called old at my second Olympic Games!,” she told E! News.
When speaking to the outlet, she admitted to wanting to return for the 2028 Olympics which will take place in Los Angeles, California. “I will say I’m very grateful to have gone back in the gym, picked up new skills, picked up my old skills, just kind of reliving and re-experiencing the competition scene,” she said.
She added, “getting back and having the right diet, having the right structure, having the right schedule, I was like, Oh, I can possibly do this…So it’s really fun to play around with different skills. I’d never done a few of the skills that I competed in this journey.”
Though she will not attend the Paris Olympics, she will be cheering on her USA gymnastics team that consists of her former teammate Simon Biles along with Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera, and Jordan Chiles.