The United States' Gabby Douglas reached a gold medal in the Women's Individual All-Around competition on Thursday.
Douglas did so in style, with energy that had her bouncing around the floor as the crowd clapped along to her music. She twirled and spun into the corners, setting up bursts of tumbling that saw her hit great heights and stick nearly all of her landings.
Douglas, known as the "Flying Squirrel," was in first after each rotation. She scored a 15.5 on the balance beam, one of her tougher events.
Her final performance won over the crowd - and the judges, who gave her a score of 15.033. With her teammates Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber and McKayla Maroney cheering her on from the stands,
Douglas finished with a score of 62.232 beating out Russia's Viktoria Komova who earned silver and Aliya Mustafina who took bronze.
Teammate Aly Raisman of the United States took fourth. She tied with Mustafina in scoring but lost the tie breaker.
Douglas and Raisman were both looking to become the fourth U.S. gymnast to capture the coveted all-around title, after Mary Lou Retton, Shannon Miller and Nastia Liukin.
Instead Douglas becomes the first woman of color to win the Olympic all-around gold. She also becomes the first African-American female gymnast to win an individual Olympic medal since Dominique Dawes did in '96.
"She was one of my inspirations and role models growing up," Douglas said.
