Gabby Douglas Wins All-Around Gold

Gymnast Gabby Douglas has won the women's gymnastics all-around title at the London 2012 Olympic Games, becoming the first African-American competitor in history to do so. It's a huge victory for the 16-year-old and the country, giving the United States its third consecutive Olympic all-around championship, NBC reports.

Gabby was in first place after each rotation, scoring a 15.5 on the balance beam and finishing with a total score of 62.232.

From ESPN:

Just as she did in Tuesday night's team final, Douglas set the tone with the very first event, vault. Once again doing the difficult Amanar -- a roundoff onto the takeoff board, back handspring onto the table and 2.5 twisting somersaults before landing -- Douglas took a small hop to the left and then another, putting her dangerously close to the out-of-bounds line.

She never looked down, but it was clear she knew how close she was, twisting her upper body to the left to absorb the momentum and keep her legs from moving. She stayed in place -- and in bounds -- and her 15.966 gave her a lead she never relinquished…

Next came balance beam, where both Komova and Douglas have struggled. Komova's fall during the team competition at last year's worlds hurt Russia's chance of catching the Americans, while Douglas might have won the U.S. title if not for a fall on the second day of competition ...

But Douglas did her one better. She oozed confidence as she whipped off a series of back handsprings, landing as easily and confidently as she had when she performed on the arena floor. She did a front somersault with such power the thud of her landing echoed inside the arena.

Read more at ESPN and NBCSports.

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