In the nick of time, Gabby Douglas lands at U.S. Classic, joining Simone Biles, Suni Lee
London 2012 Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas was all smiles Friday (17 May), holding court with a gaggle of reporters after wrapping up a podium training session ahead of Saturday’s U.S. Classic competition in Hartford, Connecticut.
It’s to be a star-studded affair with gymnastics who's who lining up including Douglas, Simone Biles and Suni Lee, the last three women to claim the Olympic all-around title.
The trio impressed during the official practice session Friday morning with Biles adding back several big elements to her competitive program not seen since the Tokyo Games, including a triple-double on the floor exercise and a double-double dismount off the uneven bars.
Lee trained on all four events, opening up the possibility that she will compete in the all-around for the first time since a 15-month battle with kidney-related health concerns ended her sophomore campaign for Auburn University early.
Two-and-a-half weeks removed from her first competition since the Rio Games, Douglas looked to have made improvements from her first outing and showed elements like a double layout on the floor exercise and standing full on the balance beam that she did not at last month’s American Classic.
But for Douglas, getting here – both to Hartford and this moment of her career – hasn’t been easy.
Late Thursday, Douglas took to social media after dangerous storms across the southern U.S. stranded her.
“Flight got cancelled and now stuck in Dallas,” she wrote in an Instagram story post. “Help!!!”
Enter a private jet.
“Oh, my goodness. It was a whole thing. [My flight] got pushed from 7 to 9 to 11 to cancelled,” she explained. “We go to the desk and she's like, ‘Well, there's nothing until Saturday like noon.’ I was like, ‘I'm going to miss the podium.’
“My mom called my agent, and he was like, ‘Hey, like, I know someone with a private jet,” she concluded.
Douglas arrived in time, landing around 6 a.m. after just two hours of sleep.
It’s just one more obstacle for the three-time Olympic gold medallist, who is making a most improbable comeback after eight years away, wanting to wipe away memories from 2016.
If it fazed Douglas, it was hard to tell.
She has a bigger picture to focus on.
“I missed gymnastics and I loved it, and it ended rough for me in 2016,” Douglas explained. "I didn’t want to end on that note. Like regardless of the outcome, I wanted to make sure like I end on love and joy instead of like hating something that I love.”
While Douglas’ debut at the American Classic was far from perfect, she showed that she has many of the pieces needed to contend for a trip to a third Olympic Games in just over two months’ time.
The 28-year-old said Friday her shaky first-time out was just part of the process.
“I obviously didn't do the best that I wanted, but… I have to give myself a little bit of grace because it's been so long, and it was kind of like a little bit of… being unknown. Like, when the hand goes up, like too much gas, not enough gas,” Douglas explained. “It’s like riding a horse, you know, it's like you never lose it. So I'll take it, and I've taken it, and so I kind of got back in the gym and work hard, do the numbers.”
Saturday’s competition provides the stage for the next step, though Douglas is intent on keeping things low key.
“I’m not gonna put a lot of pressure on myself. I'm just kind of taking it one step at a time,” said Douglas. “And, then, we'll go from there.”