Young gymnast Gabby Douglas shatters glass ceiling with win

Martha Karolyi became a convert over the winter, when the bubbly teenager with the electric smile developed the tenacity required to be a champion.

Under the brightest lights, on the biggest stage, that belief shattered a glass ceiling.

Even if the first African-American to win an Olympic all-around title didn't quite realize it.

“I kind of forgot about that,” Gabby said with a laugh.

Don't worry, Gabby, the world is going to have fun reminding you.

She soared her way into history Aug. 2, leading the whole way to climb a mountain paved by former U.S. gymnasts Ron Galimore, Dominique Dawes and a handful of others who showed the sport isn't just for the white or the privileged.

“How inspiring is that?” said Natalie Hawkins, the woman who allowed her then 14-year-old “baby” daughter to move from Virginia to Iowa in 2010 after Gabby convinced her that she was good enough to compete at the top.

She didn't have to wait long to find out.

Gabby was still trying to get used to the feeling of having her second gold medal in three days around her neck when Oprah chimed in.

“OMG I'm so THRILLED for Gabby. Flowing happy tears!!” Winfrey posted on Twitter.

Karolyi, the U.S. women's team coordinator called it “history made” while Liang Chow, the coach who channeled Gabby’s' precocious talent, believes his star pupil is “ready to move onto higher things.”

She certainly looked like it on a flawless night in which Gabby grabbed the gold during her first event and never let silver medalist Viktoria Komova of Russia come close to wrenching it from her hands.

Explosive on vault and exquisite on uneven bars, Gabby never trailed. Though she sealed the third straight women's all-around title for an American with a floor routine that delighted the O2 Arena crowd, it was her pretty set on beam that provided the difference.

The event is a 90-second test of nerves, a twisting, turning ballet on a four-inch slab of wood four feet off the ground. And, for months, Gabby struggled to find a rhythm on it.

This was the same girl who was so out of sorts when the team arrived in London a couple of weeks ago that Karolyi ordered Chow to give her a little pep talk.

Chow's message that day wasn't complicated. He urged Gabby to ignore the pain in her leg from a minor muscle strain and get down to business.

“He just said that everyone has pain, so just go out there and, you know, why are you focused on that?” Gabby said. “He said, ‘You're at the Olympics, and put that behind you, and, if you don't push it now you don't have a chance, you'll regret it.’”

She didn't. Not after winning her mother over with the idea her future lay in Iowa with Chow instead of her family's home in Virginia Beach. Not after those long days in the gym when she would ask herself, “Why do I have to do this?” only to go and do it anyway.

And not after a little boost from Karolyi. The legendary coach made Gabby a surprising choice for the American Cup in New York in March. At the time, Karolyi said she just wanted Gabby to get some needed experience against a talented field.

But she knew.

She’d known for months.

She’d seen it during the training camps at the Karolyi Ranch north of Houston, where Gabby started to showcase the world-class talent Chow had spent a year unlocking.

Gabby went and won the whole thing that day at Madison Square Garden as an alternate.

By then, Gabby's mom was won over. She raised four kids largely on her own and tearfully made the decision to let her youngest train with Chow. She doubted herself but looked at the list of “pros” and “cons” her eldest daughter wrote up and understood she had to let go. Just a little.

Even if it hurt. “I must have lost my marbles,” Hawkins said. “But she wanted this more than anything.”

And Gabby worked like it. Chow believes she just needed time to grow up. She's just 16.

Funny, she certainly looked all grown up last Thursday. On a night that would turn most girls her age to tears, Gabby smiled. She laughed. She acted as if she expected to be here all along.

“She demonstrated she is an Olympic champion,” Chow said.

One that could have a major influence on her sport.

Unlike some of her peers, Gabby looks like she's having fun out there. There is no drama when she competes, just joy. She has an energy that will make advertising executives swoon and likely turn her into a millionaire in the near future.

But this was never about money. It wasn't even about breaking down barriers. It was simply about challenging herself.

She never doubted she could be the best. Even when she was the only one who thought so.

“I wanted to seize the moment,” she said.

History was just a bonus.

Gabby won two gold medals at the London Olympics. She beat Russia’s Viktoria Komova for the all-around title Aug. 2. Two nights earlier, she won gold as a member of the “Fierce Five” U.S. women’s gymnastics team.

But she failed in her bid Tuesday for a third medal on the balance beam.

Her right foot slid out from under her and she fell on her bottom. She pulled herself back up and finished the routine.

Photo: Gabrielle Douglas