体操运动员盖比·道格拉斯腾飞妇女的全能金牌

LONDON — It took tremendous courage for 道格拉斯爱说话 到 move away from home 在 14, leaving her beloved mother and siblings behind in Virginia Beach, to train with a world-class coach who would push her to excel.

And it took untold practice, sacrifice and pain for Douglas and Liang Chow to transform this better-than-average gymnast with bigger-than-average dreams into a bona-fide Olympian in less than two years’ time.

Thursday at the 伦敦奥运会, Douglas demonstrated that the world likely hasn’t seen the limit of what this uncommonly self-possessed youngster can do by winning the sport’s most prestigious title: the individual all-around Olympic gold medal.

道格拉斯抓住主角在一开始就与世界上最困难的金库，然后站在高大的, 在 4 脚 11, 抵御收费由两个强大的俄罗斯, 提供能挤满了动力性能, 恩扪及一喜悦， 女子体操非常缺乏.

“你只需要不要害怕去那里，只是独领风骚,“道格拉斯赛后说, 下一只胳膊塞进奥运吉祥物, 一手拿着一束鲜花，并在她的脖子一枚奥运金牌. “你必须去那里，是一个兽. 因为如果你不这样做, 你不会是在上面。“

道格拉斯, 谁与完成 62.232 点, 成为连续第三个美国妇女赢得了梦寐以求的个人全能金牌, 下面的柳金, 该 2008 北京冠军, and Carly Patterson, who triumphed at the 2004 Athens Games.

She’s also the first African-American to win the all-around title. It was Douglas’s second gold medal in 48 小时, coming on the heels of 在中美. women’s team championship Tuesday.

Russia’s Viktoria Komova, an elegant gymnast who had been chasing Douglas all night, took silver, breaking down in uncontrollable sobs when the scoreboard showed that her final routine, an inspired performance on the floor, wasn’t enough to vault her into gold. Komova finished with 61.973.

美国人 Aly Raisman, 18, a surprising qualifier for Thursday’s final, earned the same score as Russia’s Aliya Mustafina (59.566), leaving them tied them for the bronze medal. But under the sport’s international code, such ties are broken by a rule that neither Raisman nor her coach, Mihai Brestyan, was aware of.

In short: the lowest score of each gymnast is dropped, then the remaining three scores are added together to settle it. After that calculation, Mustafina held the edge, 与 45.933 to Raisman’s 45.366.

Raisman was given no official explanation and walked off the floor still hopeful of a shared bronze. A journalist broke the news.

“I was hoping that they’d given us both the bronze medal, but obviously they didn’t,” said Raisman, of Needham, 马萨诸塞州, who had outperformed her best friend and teammate Jordyn Wieber已 to earn the unexpected chance to contend for the individual title. “It’s definitely upsetting, but I’m still happy for the rest of the girls that are on the podium tonight.”

Raisman still has a chance to win two more medals, having qualified for the finals on the balance beam and floor. Douglas could also add to her London medal haul, 以及, when the individual event finals are held.

But not all of Douglas’s Olympic ambitions dangle from purple satin ribbons.

“I hope I inspire people,” said Douglas, breaking out into an enormous smile. “I want to inspire people!“

And her message?

“If you’re having a hard time, never give up! Always keep fighting!“

Even at 16 岁, Douglas speaks from experience. She has dealt with injuries — missing the 2009 national championships because of a broken wrist and struggling with a strained hip flexor and hamstring in 2010. And two years ago, she made the wrenching decision to leave her close-knit family to live with a foster family in West Des Moines, 爱荷华州, and train with Chow at the same gym as 2008 all-around silver medalist Shawn Johnson.

Thursday at North Greenwich Arena, the 94-pound Douglas took the fight directly to her 23 challengers.

She opened with the high-risk Amanar vault, which just a handful of gymnasts in the world perform. It automatically adds 0.7 of a point to a gymnast’s score because of its difficulty, but that gain can be quickly negated by botched execution or a muffed landing.

Douglas was flawless on the handspring takeoff and through 2¹ / ₂ twists in the air, but she wobbled slightly upon the landing. 仍, her score, 15.966, was the highest among all 24 vault performances.

Raisman’s was nearly as good, 15.900, putting the Americans 1-2 第一次旋转后.

随后赶来的高低杠, 俄罗斯的实力和鱼龙混杂的美国人. 而轻盈Komova证明她为什么在设备的卫冕世界冠军. 她reedlike体是非常适合周围的高低杠鞭打, 而她也用轻松的恩典, 她的双腿完全一致. Mustafin是更大胆, 与时尚以及.

道格拉斯她举行了她自己, 而雷斯曼跌至第四俄罗斯双雄背后.

无论神经体操运动员的感觉往往会展现自己在平衡木上. 道格拉斯, 其重点在整个竞争能力是有问题早在本赛季, 赫然举行她在一起, 翻筋斗上下四英寸宽的光束，犹如宽，人行道和快速的每个轻微的晃动后自己作曲.

但梁是灾难性的正常固体雷斯曼. She never fell off but was penalized a full point, as costly as if she had fallen, for using a hand to keep herself from tumbling off.

Raisman’s coach was baffled afterward, having watched her nail the routine in the U.S. team qualifying earlier in the week and twice in warmups that morning,

“When it’s about the team, she is giving everything,” Brestyan said. “When it’s about herself, something is wrong there. I don’t know why. It’s a shame.”

Douglas had a comfortable leading entering the final event, the floor, but not so comfortable that she could relax. Chow had forbid her from looking at the scoreboard throughout the competition, telling her to focus solely on him and the apparatus.

She peeked anyway, she confessed afterward.

But that hardly kept her from staging a full-tilt show. She brought the house down with a high-energy, fun-loving routine that mixed explosive athleticism with sassy dance moves. Her jumps were spectacular; her tumbling, daring but always in control. Her score, 15.359, put tremendous pressure on Komova, the only gymnast in position to overtake.

And in the end, Douglas’s mark stood. And she disappeared from view in a sea of hugs.

“She performs with extreme lightness,” said U.S. team coordinator Marta Karolyi, who dubbed Douglas “The Flying Squirrel” after first seeing her perform two years ago. “I think that was one of the qualities that the international judges appreciated. She wasn’t struggling. She wasn’t just barely pulling through the skills. She was really flying the air, like her name says!“

来源: 华盛顿邮报