Gabby Douglas Win Gymnastic All-Around Gold

AP

Gabrielle (Gabby) Douglas outshone all the other competitors today to claim the Women's Gymnastics All-Around competition's Gold Medal. Seen above in what is deemed her best sport, she appears to float aloft above the balance beam with a combination of grace and precision. That might explain her nickname, "the flying squirrel." Her final score, 62.232, topped Russian silver medalist Victoria Komova's score of 61.973 by almost three-tenths of a point. Komova collapsed in tears when she saw the posted scores.

Josh Haner, New York Times

Gabby, the first woman of color to win all-around gold, flashed her signature smile as she performed a floor exercise that brought the spectators to their feet roaring approval. Aliya Mustafina and Aly Raisman finished with identical scores of 59.566, but the Russian got the bronze on a tiebreak. New rules created in June required judges to drop the lowest scores for both gymnasts and total the remaining three, which gave Mustafina a total of 45.933 and Raisman 45.366.

Douglas, whose family lives in Virginia Beach, moved to West Des Moines, Iowa two years ago to train with Liang Chow, who coached Shawn Johnson in 2008. Her mother nixed the idea of a 14-year-old moving away from home, but Douglas eventually prevailed with the help of her sisters. Her mom, Natalie Hawkins, can count herself lucky that she lost that battle. Her daughter has won global fame, and the United States can take pride in her accomplishments as well as those of the entire women's gymnastics team.