Via NESN:
Gabby Douglas has had a rather unique childhood. But strip away the gold medals and the global attention, and you'll see that she's just like any other 16-year-old.
Douglas hasn't always been treated like such, though. The Virginia Beach native admits she was bullied by other gymnasts early on in life before eventually moving to West Des Moines, Iowa, to further pursue her Olympic aspirations. Douglas wanted her entire family to make the move, but she eventually moved away on her own, living with a host family while she chased her dreams.
Douglas, as you'd expect, gets a little bit homesick every now and then, but she was so adamant about moving away to hone her gymnastics skills that she even threatened to quit the sport she loves if she did not go through a change of scenery.
"I felt like I was bullied and isolated from the group, and they treated me not how they would treat the other teammates," Douglas recently said on Oprah's Next Chapter.
Douglas became the first black woman to win Olympic gold in the all-around event at this year's London Olympics. When you consider that, maybe she isn't all that normal after all. In many ways, she's supernormal. And that's something Douglas should be proud of, especially with all she's endured in her journey to greatness.
Gabby's gym responded.
Randy Stageburg, a former Senior International Elite and National Team member, told GymNewstics that Gabby's accusations "absolutely ridiculous." She trained at Excalibur for eight years and trained alongside Gabby for two of those years.
"The accusations that are being made against the gymnasts and coaches are just sickening," she explained. "Gabby was never a victim, in fact, many would say she was one of the favorites. I am not saying that she never felt bullied because when you are in a sport with a bunch of girls it is bound to happen. However, anything that she may have felt was never about race and I can assure you everyone at some point has felt bullied.
"I never once heard her complain about girls being mean," she added. "Unless you were there to witness these so called racial acts against Gabby, I suggest you take your comments elsewhere because you sound ignorant. I also trained with Morgan Evans, Marcia Newby, Britney Ranzy and Sheriese Clark all of which were on the national team and are African American. I can assure you they all have nothing but great things to say about their experience at Excalibur."
Gustavo Moure, the president and CEO of Excalibur, explained how "hurtful and without merit" Gabby's comments were.
"We are good people," Moure said. "We never were knowingly involved in any type of bullying or racist treatment, like she is accusing Excalibur.
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August 27, 2012
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Great Britain competed in the Olympics as 'British athletes.
Both countries had great ethnic diversity.
USA athletes competed as Afro-Americans etc.
Remember the Song: 'You've gotta be carefully taught' from South Pacific?
Ofcourse Gabyy was 'Bullied'.
WHEN THE WHOLE BEN LA DIN THING STARTED. IF WE WOULD HAVE SENT 100,000 OR SO JR. HIGH GIRLS OVER THERE ALL THE BAD GUYS WOULD HAVE GIVEN UP AND WE WOULD HAVE WON THE WAR IN 30 DAYS OR LESS.THEY GET IN THERE LITTLE GROUPS AND MAKE FUN OF EVERYBODY AND EVERYTHING. SO YEAH I BELIEVE HER BUT I BET SHE WAS THROWING SOME OUT THERE ALSO. BUT THIS COACH WE HAVE IN WEST DES MOINES IS THE BEST AND HE PUTS UP WITH VERY LITTLE OR NONE OF IT AT ALL. ALL FOR 1.1 FOR ALL. THERE IS NO I IN TEAM AND ALL THAT GOOD STUFF. BUT HIS GIRLS KEEP BRINGING MEDALS BACK TO IOWA SO HE IS DOING SOMETHING RIGHT,CAUSE LIKE I SAY. GIRLS OF THAT AGE GROUP, IN GROUPS ARE JUST MEAN. END OF SNTENCE END OF STORY.
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factoring in on her conclusions. These adults responded in a very immature way.I believe that Gabby's feelings were real to her. That was her reality!!! I believe her. I was the only minority at a university and was treated the same way.To encounter such behavior at the university level was a shock to me. It was interesting to see how educated individuals sophisticated their racial divide. People need to know that people of color have to work three times as hard as others do in order to get tenure, promotion,just to maintain their positions. I can bet you that Gabby was a real successful gymnist who was accused of trying to make her teammates look bad. Spare me of the old, tired phrase "Pulling the race card".It's time that the folks at the community center pay attention to what's going on around them and occasionally check to see how the youngsters are getting along.. Didn't anyone wonder why Gabby moved to Iowa to train? If I were those adults, I would be proud of her. Oh, by the way, when Gabby was being interviewed, I believed that she used the term "she felt isolated" rather than they were racists.It's about time that we all take a deep breath and chill out. I am proud of Gabby. She is very mature and presents herself well in all ways .Congratulations Gabby!!!!!
Most of the kids that bullied me came from democrat union families.In my 20's I realized these kids were pissed because I ran faster,shot hockey pucks harder,hit baseballs further,threw,kicked and punted footballs further and they were jealous so they took it out on me.
Could it be that old Randy and Gus were projecting their hidden feelings into the situation. Busted.
I believe the word you are looking for is those. Those kids. And I will not even touch the rest of this. You type like you talk.
I watched Weiber, she did not perform that well, this time, and thats the reason for all her tears and disappoitments...
It's not Gabby who is making a big deal about winning, its the media...
THE BUSINESS SHOULD TEACH THE BULLY-BULLIED-BYSTANDER- IF THE ADULTS OR TEACHERS ALLOWED ANY OF THESE ACTIONS - PEOPLE SHOULD ENROLL ELESE WHERE - OR PROTEST THEM CAUSE THERE ANSWER WAS IMATURE , BULLYING ONE OF OUR USA CHAMPIONS
Who cares? She did a great job. She is an amazing person. But everyone has some challenges in their lives that they have to overcome if they are going to compete at that level. Or in any level really. I do not care that she is black nor do I see her struggle being any harder than someone from another country facing adversity. My point, just leave it at she is a great gymnast, she is the first female African American to win such, she worked hard to get there, and she will continue to be a great example for gymnast. Not all this other BS.