The potential gymnastics competitors for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris just became more interesting.
Olympic champion and trailblazer Gabby Douglas, 27, said on Thursday through Instagram that she had resumed training and had set her sights on the 2018 Games. Douglas, who is one of just a handful of American gymnasts to have ever competed in back-to-back Olympic Games and won a team gold medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, hasn’t competed since then.
She described her state of mind throughout the extended time away from the sport in the announcement of her return, stating she’s “found [herself] back where it all began.” She accompanied the message with two black-and-white images of herself on the balance beam looking like she was in classic form. “For many years, I’ve had an ache in my heart. But I didn’t want to keep carrying anger, pain, sadness, or regret and through my tears and hurt, I’ve found peace,” Douglas wrote. “I wanted to find the joy again for the sport that I absolutely love doing.”
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Douglas acknowledged that it will be challenging to earn her a spot on the American Olympic squad. She wrote: “I am absolutely grateful and excited to get back out on the floor. I know I have a major challenge ahead of me. She also shared a video of herself working on her trademark uneven bars, the competition in which she took home the 2012 U.S. national title. In 2012, she went on to break ground by becoming the first Black woman to win the all-around Olympic gold medal.
Three former Olympic champions are back in training with the intention of competing again now that she has made the announcement herself. The 2016 Olympic champion Simone Biles will take the stage at the U.S. Classic next month for the first time since 2021. The entry list for the occasion, which also included Sunisa Lee, broke the news. The Auburn star had to cut her last collegiate season short due to a kidney condition, despite taking home the gold in Tokyo in 2021. She said she’s “still in & out of the gym” on Wednesday while working around the condition.
Additionally, Lee and Biles took part in the Wednesday-ending U.S. team training camp. Douglas failed to show up at the camp. She might take part in the U.S. Classic, which serves as a preliminary event for the national championships.