LONDON — A giddy Gabby Douglas offered a stream of words at her mile-a-minute best.
“A lot of hard work, a lot of passion,” she said, “a lot of sacrifices and determination.”
That’s how the tiny American teen described just what it took to win Olympic team gold in gymnastics.
Now she’s aiming for more: another gold in the all-around competition today.
Suddenly it’s her shot on the biggest stage. U.S. teammate Jordyn Wieber, the one-time favorite and defending world champion, missed out with a mistake-filled performance in qualifying.
Douglas and another American, Aly Raisman, will try to hold off Russia’s Viktoria Komova and keep the remarkable run going for USA Gymnastics.
“Man, I feel amazing right now,” Douglas said. “It just feels amazing to be the 2012 Olympic champion.”
Winning as a team certainly has them on the right track to leave London with more medals.
“It is very special. It gives us the momentum,” the 4-foot-11 Douglas said. “It keeps going, it keeps flowing.”