Gabby Douglas is competing for the first time in 8 years

KATY, Texas (AP) – Gabby Douglas is officially back.

Time will tell whether the gymnastics star’s return to sport will extend to the Olympic Games in Paris.

Douglas, who became the first black woman to win an Olympic all-around title when she triumphed in London in 2012on Saturday, he took part in the American Classic competition for the first time in eight years.

The 28-year-old looked rusty in places, promising in others, and earned an overall rating of fifty.65. Douglas has qualified in multiple events for the U.S. Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, next month. He will get one other probability to qualify for the all-around competition at nationals when he competes at the U.S. Classic on May 18 in Hartford, Connecticut.

Douglas last competed at the Rio Olympics in 2016, where she helped the Americans win their second straight gold in the team event. She took an prolonged break from the sport, but never officially retired. The desire to return resurfaced as she watched the 2022 U.S. Championships, and she or he has spent much of the past two years training in the Dallas area with the goal of enabling the five-man U.S. team, which will probably be heavily favored, to win gold in Paris this summer.

However, her return is shrouded in mystery. She was scheduled to compete in the Winter Cup in February, but withdrew from the competition just days earlier after testing positive for Covid-19. Her press visibility is limited, and in contrast to 2020 Olympic gold medalists Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey, who competed at the American Classic, she selected to not participate in Friday’s podium training.

Douglas took to the court about an hour before the competition and showed glimpses of what made her a star in London. Her Jurchenko double twist on the hill had great amplitude, and on bars – her best event – she had elements of a routine that will surely be competitive at the elite level.

The challenge will probably be to seek out a solution to connect all the elements coherently.

Featured Stories

Douglas fell off the bar twice, and her on-court performances lacked the speed and stamina to satisfy the demands of anyone serious about making the Olympic team.

There is time for Douglas, but not much. The US Classic will probably be held in three weeks. The U.S. championships will probably be held in five years, and the Olympic trials will probably be held in Minneapolis in late June.

Carey, who won gold on floor exercise in Tokyo, achieved the all-around with a rating of 55.000 while also posting top scores on vault and floor. Lee, who has struggled with kidney-related health issues for the past two years, put together a stunning bar routine that allowed him to win easily with a rating of 15.200.