SKY’S the LIMIT: Gabby Douglas performs on the beam during the artistic gymnastics women’s individual all-around final yesterday. She became the first African-American to win the event. (
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LONDON — Gabby Douglas, the graceful, effervescent 16-year-old, moved to Iowa two years ago for this Olympic moment in London.
And now she has her individual gold. Douglas flipped, somersaulted and bounded her way to the individual all-around gold medal yesterday and perhaps onto the next Wheaties cereal box with a flawless performance at North Greenwich Arena. Douglas is the first African-American Olympic all-around gymnastic champion.
“That’s an amazing feeling. I had forgotten about that,’’ Douglas said. “Everything is possible. I feel so honored.’’
Douglas moved from Virginia Beach to the heartland to work with coaching guru Liang Chow, who guided 2008 star Shawn Johnson. Douglas jumped into his arms after a giant performance on the balance beam.
“I moved to Iowa and made a lot of sacrifices,’’ Douglas said. “It was different, but I’m so excited I moved.’’
So is America. In the four routines — vault, balance beam, uneven bars and floor — Douglas didn’t score lower than 15, finishing with a total of 62.23. The 4-foot-11 champion aced a 15.966 on the vault, a 15.733 on uneven bars, a 15.5 on the balance beam and finished her gold show with a 15.03 during a radiant floor exercise so full of life it left her USA teammates crying in the stands.
Gymnastics coaching legend Bela Karolyi, husband of U.S. Olympic women’s coach Martha, compared Douglas to Romanian champion Nadia Comaneci, whom he coached to a gold medal in 1976 when she was 14.
“It looked to me like a skinny Nadia was jumping up and down on the floor,’’ he gushed. “It was like Montreal, 1976. Unknown, no experience, it was unbelievable. I’m a little surprised. We didn’t know how she’s going to last, the nerves and endurance. I would qualify her nerves of steel with Nadia.’’
Martha Karolyi had never seen a five-month rise such as the one Douglas has made.
“She showed great improvement that was incredible in this short time,’’ Martha Karolyi said. “I haven’t seen any gymnast, an average-good gymnast from five months ago, to climb up to best in the world. That’s the truth. She was good but so were other ones.
“Just in five months, she becomes so much sharper and perfect. What I admire is she performs with extreme lightness. I think that is one of the qualities the international judges appreciate.’’
The individual all-around is regarded as the sport’s top prize and Douglas’ gold made it three straight for American women. Carly Patterson won the 2004 gold in the individual event and Nastia Liukin took the gold in 2008. The U.S. is the first women’s program to win three straight individual-all-arounds since the Soviet Union from 1952-60.
Douglas also became the fourth American to win the women’s all-around gold. Mary Lou Retton’s 1984 gold broke the U.S. drought. Douglas, however, is the only to combine it with a team gold.
With one event, the floor exercise, left, Douglas led Russian Viktoria Komova by 0.326. Komova was the last performer and it wasn’t decided until her 15.033 blinked on the scoreboard, leaving her with silver. Douglas admitted it was “nerve-racking’’ as she awaited Komova’s score.
American Aly Raisman wound up fourth. The Needham, Mass., native was in a points tie with Aliya Mustafina, but the Russian was awarded the bronze on a complicated tiebreaker system that counts the apparatus scores.
Douglas and Raisman were dressed in purplish-pink, sparkling leotards — not far from the Olympics’ color scheme in which London has been draped for a week.
London also has had its share of rain and Douglas had her epiphany.
“On the bus when it was raining, I knew this is going to be a great day,” she said. “My mom told me when I was little when it rains, it’s God’s way of saying a big day is going to happen.’’
It was a brilliant opening for both Douglas and Raisman as they finished 1-2 in the vault. Douglas executed an Amanar vault and the judges gave her a score of 15.966. Raisman followed up with a similarly solid Amanar vault, earning a 15.9. They were 1-2 after the first stage.
“I definitely had this amazing feeling,” said Douglas. “I just told myself, ‘Believe. Don’t fear, just believe.’ I didn’t really think about making mistakes. I wanted to give it my all. My brother told me ‘Put your body on the line, don’t give up.’ ’’
On the balance beam, Douglas was dynamite again, scoring a 15.5, after which she got a big hug from Chow.
“He definitely put me in shape in the five months — hardcore in the gym, pushing and pushing,’’ Douglas said. “Every single day. He still kept pushing me even when I said, ‘Why do I have to do this?’ It all paid off. He still believed in me even during the bad days.’’
Douglas, the second U.S. woman to win multiple gold medals and the first since Shannon Miller (1996), isn’t done. She has two events remaining: uneven bars and balance beam on Monday and Tuesday.
“Physically she was prepared, we all knew,’’ Karyoli said. “All the people questioned marked her ability to focus and this quality improved a lot from month to month.’’
marc.berman@nypost.com