Injuries are one of the unfortunate equalizers in the world of sports. Whether you're a world-class star or a newcomer trying to prove your worth, you're reliant on your body. Good luck (and health) can set the stage for success; a bad break (literally or figuratively) could change things for the worse.
Ahead of the 2024 Paris , Gabby Douglas, 28, found herself on the wrong side of the ledger. Despite a decorated career, which features three Olympic gold medals and plenty of other honors, the gymnast won't be heading to Paris. An ankle injury forced her to withdraw from the U.
S. Gymnastics Championships, ending any chance of qualifying for the main event. It goes without saying that professional athletes must be competitive, and that's certainly true for Douglas.
Not only did she push through hardships to reach the top of her game, but, ahead of the 2024 Olympics, she partnered with AncestryDNA for ; her profile highlighted some outstanding traits, like an affinity for being competitive. With all of that in mind, how hard was it to make the decision to step back and give up on a chance at 2024 glory in favor of the longer game? "Yeah, it's very, very hard," Douglas told . "I'm like, again, one of the traits is I'm very competitive, and so that's my favorite thing about gymnastics: competing.
And so it was very, very hard to make that decision, to be like, 'OK, like, should I push myself and, you know, kind of make my foot worse in the end?' Or is it 'OK, let's take a differen.