Gabby Douglas

Moderated by IPR's Charity Nebbe
Hosted by: Hancher and the University of Iowa Lecture Committee
Date: September 1, 2022, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Hancher Auditorium

Support provided by:

F. Wendell Miller Fund

With three Olympic Gold medals and three World Championship medals under her belt, Gabby Douglas has been the most loved gymnast of this decade. Gabby burst into the hearts and minds of mainstream America in 2012 during the London Olympic Games when she became the first African-American woman to win an Olympic Gold medal in the All-Around Individual event. Since then, Gabby has been one of the most influential female athletes in the world and is continuously at the center of pop culture.

Gabby began her gymnastics career at the early age of six, and by eight, had already won her first major title as the 2004 Virginia State Champion. When Gabby was only 16 years old, she was selected to represent America as a member of the Olympic Women’s Gymnastics team to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics. It was in London where Gabby made her mark by winning the Gold medal in both the Team event and most notably, the All-Around Individual event. Gabby became the first American gymnast to win Gold in both the All-Around Individual and Team competitions at the same Olympics.

After the London Games, Gabby’s stardom took off and she became a teen sensation. Corporations quickly took note of Gabby’s popularity and she signed on as a spokesperson for major blue chip brands including Nike, Capri Sun, Proctor & Gamble, Royal Caribbean, AT&T, Target, McDonald’s and more. She made appearances on The Tonight Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show and was named to Barbara Walters’ list as one of the “10 Most Fascinating People of 2012.” In support of President Barack Obama, she led the Pledge of Allegiance at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, was nominated for an ESPY Award, and was named the 2012 Associated Press “Female Athlete of the Year.”

Gabby has released two New York Times bestselling books titled Raising the Bar and Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith. In 2013, Gabby’s life story was portrayed in the Lifetime Network’s ‘movie of the week’ called The Gabby Douglas Story and in the lead up to the 2016 Rio Olympics, Gabby’s Olympic journey was documented on the Oxygen Network’s reality television show, Douglas Family Gold.

After the London Olympics, Gabby knew she had more to give on the gymnastics floor and decided to do the near impossible - go for another Gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. After overcoming the odds, Gabby successfully made her second Olympic gymnastics team and represented her country once again in the Olympics. There, Gabby won her third Olympic Gold medal in the Team competition and is the first All-Around Olympic Gold medal gymnast, in US history, to return to a second Olympics.

Following the 2016 Games, Gabby continues to be a trailblazer, releasing her own line of lip gloss with Beauty Bakerie, working with the philanthropy Hack Harassment to put an end to cyber bullying, and most recently, launching her signature “Gabby Douglas” Barbie Doll with Mattel.