Lifetime has just greenlit a biopic following the life of young, black gymnast and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Gabby Douglas.
The film, entitled “The Gabby Douglas Story” will follow her life as a child, when she began gymnastics training at the age of 6, until present day. Sydney Mikayla has been cast to play young Gabby Douglas and Imani Hakim will take over as the teenage Douglas.
Born December 31, 1995, Gabby was a member of the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the first black woman and the first American in Olympic history to win the Individual All-Around Champion. Douglas was also the first American gymnast to win gold in both individual all-around and team competitions in the same Olympics.
Actress Regina King has signed on to play the mother and Epatha Merkerson will play her grandmother. Gregg Champion will be directing from a script written by Maria Nation.
The film is still in pre-production phase, so a release date has yet to be determined.
