Gabby Douglas wins her third gold medal at the Olympic Games (Twitter)
Fresh off her turn at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, Gabby Douglas is putting the criticism behind her. Critics targetted the gymnast for her hair and lack of enthusiasm. But now, she’s looking ahead to a judging position in the 2017 Miss America pageant in September.
“Miss America has been such an amazing event for so many years and I am excited to have the opportunity to judge the competition this year,” Douglas told USA Today in a statement Monday. “The contestants are a great example of strong women across America and I especially look forward to hearing the platforms that each of them will represent!”
Douglas will critique 52 contestants in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The show will air live Sept. 11 at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.
On top of judging Miss America, Douglas is also the new spokesperson for Venus razors.
The athlete’s new roles follow her third Olympic gold medal win with the U.S. women’s gymnastics team dubbed the “Final Five.” Though she increased her Olympic wins, Douglas was the center of critique during the event.
Complaints about her hair resurfaced from 2012. She stood at attention during the national anthem instead of putting her hand over her heart. That caused some backlash as well. Then, viewers pounced on her for not cheering for Simone Biles during the competition.
“It was hurtful. It was hurtful. It was. It’s been kind of a lot to deal with,” she said at a press conference during the Olympics.
Despite the negativity, today the 20-year-old is in good spirits.
She told People magazine she had a “fantastic” time in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
“I had fun,” she said. “Maybe people weren’t being fair on social media, but that’s social media for you.”
To mitigate the poor attitudes online, she stayed off social media for much of the games.
“I just found things to be positive about,” she explained. “And there’s a lot to be happy about. We won the gold medal as a team, and it was just such an amazing experience. I came to the Olympics and won a gold medal! That’s still really awesome. I can only do what I can do and if people want to say their stuff on social media, I can’t stop them.”
