Gymnastics followers should wait somewhat bit longer to see Gabby Douglas make her long-awaited comeback: The Olympian introduced on Instagram that she shall be withdrawing from the 2024 Winter Cup on February 24 after testing constructive for COVID-19.
“I’m so unhappy to say that I received’t be competing this weekend,” Douglas wrote in her publish on February 22. “I used to be so excited to get again on the competitors flooring…I’m crushed, however I’ll see you guys quickly!”
The Winter Cup—largely thought-about one of many earliest tune-ups for gymnasts eyeing the 2024 Paris Olympics—would have been Douglas’s first meet in almost eight years; she final hit the mat through the 2016 Rio Video games. Within the years since, the three-time Olympic gold medalist has stored a low profile, posting in 2022 that she was “taking a step again from the socials” to work on herself and her psychological well being.
“I’ve carried a heavy weight on my again for fairly a while and it has weighed me down, bodily, mentally, and emotionally,” Douglas wrote in August of 2022. “I refuse to be defeated by this weight, I refuse to be hardened by this weight. I wish to really feel mild and pleased once more.”
Nearly one 12 months later, she returned to Instagram, posting a photograph of herself hovering in a cut up over the stability beam to announce her return to gymnastics. In her caption, Douglas mentioned she spent the time journaling, reflecting, and soul-searching till she discovered herself again on the mat.
“For a few years, I’ve had an ache in my coronary heart, however I didn’t wish to preserve carrying anger, ache, disappointment, or remorse, and thru my tears and damage, I’ve discovered peace,” she wrote. “I needed to search out the enjoyment once more for the game that I completely love doing. I do know I’ve an enormous job forward of me and I’m past grateful and excited to get again out on the ground.”
Over the previous few months, Douglas shared just a few photographs and movies displaying she was again on the health club coaching. However she didn’t reveal her particular plans till earlier this month, when she informed NBC Information that she was planning to take part within the 2024 Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky. Whereas she was prepping for all 4 apparatuses—beam, flooring, bars, and vault—she admitted she was paying “somewhat extra” consideration to her marquee occasion (the identical one through which she earned the nickname “The Flying Squirrel” for her gravity-defying releases.)
In accordance with NBC, Douglas was slated to be the oldest gymnast competing on the Winter Cup on the age of 28. She informed Inside Gymnastics in January that she loves how the game has developed since her first Video games in 2012—then it was extra of a younger woman’s recreation; now, a lot of athletes are older, calmer, and extra composed. “It simply exhibits everybody that you just don’t should be 16 or 17 to maintain going,” she mentioned. “We’re going to push that boundary of age.”