Gabrielle Douglas took home the gold in the individual all-around gymnastics competition, while teammate Aly Raisman dropped to fourth.
This was Gabby’s second gold medal of the London Games, making her the first US gymnast to win both the women’s individual all-around title as well as the team gold in the same Olympics.
The 16-year-old from Virginia Beach also becomes the first African-American to win the all-around Olympic gold in gymnastics.
“WOW such an AMAZING experience! Thank you for your support, love and prayers love you all!!! #oncloud9 <3” Gabby Tweeted after taking the gold.
Douglas finished with 62.232 points, topping Russia’s Victoria Komova who had 61.973. Russia’s Aliya Mustafina took the bronze, tying America’s Aly Raisman, who missed out on the bronze due to the tie-breaker rule that combines the top three routines for each.
If not for Raisman’s low-scoring balance beam routine, there may have been no need for a tiebreaker.
Douglas led from her first event, the vault, and the trend continued throughout the competition. As cheers of “Go Gabby” rocked London’s North Greenwich Arena, Douglas began her final event, the floor, and had the crowd on their feet dancing.
Douglas became the fourth U.S. Olympic gymnast to earn the all-around title, after Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin.
photo via Gabrielle Douglas Twitter page