The road to the Paris 2024 Olympics seems to be filled with major comebacks for some of the nation’s top tumblers.
Suni Lee, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic all-around gold medalist, appears to be a shoo-in to secure a spot on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team. Also, competing for positions alongside her are Simone Biles, the 2016 Olympic champion, and Gabby Douglas, who was a 2012 triple gold medalist.
After a hiatus from training and competition, there’s renewed scrutiny of Douglas and her capabilities. Four years after her debut at the 2012 London Olympics, she regressed a bit at the 2016 Rio Games, falling short of her best performance. While she couldn’t defend her all-around individual title, she did contribute to a gold team medal.
Many believed this signaled the end of the Now-28-year-old’s career, especially considering the Washington Post reported that the average age of gymnasts at the last Olympics was 20.6 years, the oldest since 1968. But the Virginia Beach native is determined to defy the statistics.
Over the last few months, Douglas has been sharing with her 1.5 million followers her training regime with the hashtag, #grinding24. A recent picture of her in the gym, captioned, “She, in the gym tonight,” has sparked concerns.
While her body is fit and trim and she is flashing a beautiful smile, many zoomed in on some disturbing marks on her arms— sparking concerns that the pressure might have pushed her to self-harm with razors.
“Am I the only one noticing the cut mark on her arms? Baby girl I’m so sorry!” one person wrote.
One person explained, “Its grip burn,” adding when challenged, “Dude I literally did gymnastics for 12 years grips have to go around our wrists and on our hands. We have to wear arm wrist bands/sweat bands underneath to cushion and wearing them for extended times causes burns like rug burns because of the friction.”
Someone rebutted, “They are all up her arm if you look at her story. Do you wear grips on your biceps?”
Grip burns or rip burns happen to gymnasts while practicing or competing on the bars. The skin is either removed or blistered on the palm or wrists from repeatedly rubbing your hands against the bars, according to Gymnasticshq.com.
In some cases, the National Library of Medicine states that these marks can also be extended as far up as the forearms.
Most of the responses were positive, wishing her well, celebrating how fit and focused she looks, and calling her an “inspiration” or that her journey is “motivational.”
Douglas was notably absent from the list when USA Gymnastics announced the participants for their upcoming national team camp in Katy, Texas, from April 1 to 4, as coach Anna Liukin confirmed to Olympics.com. This camp plays a pivotal role in the journey towards Paris.
Liukin outlined that to qualify for the team, athletes must meet at least one of the criteria established by USA Gymnastics.
“Current Junior and Senior National Team members; Senior athletes who placed in the top 12 in the all-around at 2024 Winter Cup and achieved the U.S. Championships qualification score; Junior athletes who placed in the top six in the all-around at 2024 Winter Cup and achieved the U.S. Championships qualification score; 2020 Olympic Medalists,” the organization states.
The criteria for this selection camp leaves out Gabby Douglas. Why it matters – without an assignment she cannot petition to Championships. Gabby now only has Classics to qualify to Championships. No other route remains. https://t.co/wRgzhzX2H1 pic.twitter.com/gV48kzwpC3
— GymCastic (@GymCastic) March 28, 2024
Having missed February’s Winter Cup due to COVID, Douglas is still awaiting her competitive comeback.
With only a few months left until the U.S. Olympic trials in Minneapolis, where the USA women’s gymnastics team will be finalized, her chances to demonstrate her form and stake her claim for a spot on the Paris squad are dwindling — which might be why people think she is under stress and could possibly cause her to break.
