On her way to the women’s all-around competition at the London Olympics – arguably the biggest meet of her life – Gabby Douglas had a good feeling.
“I was on the bus and it was raining and I thought, ‘It’s going to be a great day,’ ” Douglas, 16, told PEOPLE on Thursday after winning the all-around gold medal. “My mom used to tell me when I was little, ‘When it rains, it’s God’s manifestation, a big day’s waiting to happen.’ ”
“I texted my mom, ‘It’s raining. You know what that means.’ ”
And a big day it was for the gymnast dubbed “The Flying Squirrel,” winning the most coveted prize in her sport. It comes just two days after she took home the team gold medal alongside Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross and People.com blogger Jordyn Wieber.
The significance of winning the all-around was not lost on the young gymnast. Asked which medal means the most to her, Douglas told reporters, “The all-around matters to me. People keep saying I’m the first black American to win the [all-around] gold medal so I [thought], yeah, I forgot about that. It was amazing. I feel so honored.”
She was also pleasantly surprised to learn another bit of trivia about herself. Told by a reporter that she is the only American to have gold medals in both the team competition and the all-around, Douglas replied: “Oh, wow. You learn something new every day.”
