U.S. Olympic gymnast Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas is the first woman of colour to ever win an individual all-around competition, and she is happy how her success is helping her proclaim God's glory to the world.
"It was definitely important for me to praise God because He's given me this God-given talent to go out there and represent Him and share my faith with everyone," Douglas tells The Christian Post.
"I'm not going to hold it in because He's blessed me so much throughout my gymnastics career. He's woken me up every single morning and He's just been so great to me, so I'm going to go and share it with everyone because it's a part of me and it's just who I am," she says.
While some athletes credit long hours of training, a good coach, or even good genes for their success, Douglas says her victories come only from one source—God.
"He is the secret of my success," she gushes. "I love sharing about my faith. God has given me this amazing God-given talent, so I'm going to go out and glorify His name."
Douglas did not have an easy childhood, especially since her family was homeless and living in a van. She also experienced a life-threatening illness when she was still a baby.
The Christian athlete was diagnosed with a deadly blood disease, and her mother spent several nights crying out to God just for her to heal. "God answered her prayers," Douglas tells Charisma magazine.
Douglas joined the Rio Olympics this year with the goal of repeating her feat as an all-around champion. "No U.S. gymnast has ever done it before. So I aim to do the impossible," Douglas told ESPN.
However, Douglas failed to qualify for the all-around final. Nevertheless, she was still happy with the outcome. "When I look back at my comeback, I'm most proud of staying with it. I already feel like this comeback has been a success," she said.
