Gabby Douglas Ends 2024 Olympic Comeback: Everything to Know About the Gymnastics Legend

After her virtuoso performances in Rio de Janeiro, Gabby Douglas quietly moved on from the world of gymnastics and focused on her personal life. Though it may seem odd that Gabby Douglas would walk away from competition while arguably being at the height of her abilities, athletes closing the Olympics chapter of their lives is more common than someone like Michael Phelps would want you to believe.

Though Gabby never formally announced her retirement, in the years since the 2016 Summer Games, fans saw the writing on the wall. It was clear that Gabby intended to distance herself from the sport, opting to skip the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Fortunately, however, Gabby stayed busy with speaking appearances and onscreen gigs.

Thanks to her newfound fame, Gabby found herself on the cover of Sports Illustrated, TIME, and cereal boxes. America had fallen in love with the effortless grace and power Gabby showed in competition, and conventional wisdom suggests that an untold number of young women — especially people of color — were inspired by Gabby and wanted to follow in her gymnastic footsteps.

Gabby was no stranger to television, either — she won a season of The Masked Dancer, a spin-off of a popular reality competition series. She also found herself with guest starring roles in Disney animated projects and even donned a clever disguise during a particularly heartfelt episode of Undercover Boss. 

As any twenty-something will tell you, sometimes all it takes is one heartfelt social media post to get the world buzzing. On July 13, 2023, Gabby posted a black-and-white photo of her practicing on a balance beam to her Instagram account. The caption began with a cheeky, innocuous, “Hey guys, long time no post.”

It was in her caption that she revealed she was working on a comeback — with returning to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as her ultimate goal!

“I wanted to find the joy again for the sport that I absolutely love doing,” Gabby admitted. “I know I have a huge task ahead of me, and I am beyond grateful and excited to get back out on the floor.”

“I am so grateful for the body that I have and so grateful that I still can go out on the floor and do what I love,” Douglas told TIME in November. “I never wanted to have a hatred for the sport I love. I don’t want to end it that way. I have never announced retirement, I always kept it in the back of my mind, like, we have to finish on a better note.”

Then, on Feb. 6, Gabby Douglas announced she would attempt to do what many fans consider impossible: Return to Team USA after a near decade-long absence. "After watching the 2022 championships, I was like I miss competing... I found myself in the gym, and I was like, all right, maybe I could do this again," she shared on Hallie Jackson NOW. 

Gabby was seemingly on track to go for gold medal number four. She fiercely trained for a year and a half, and competed at the Katy American Classic in April, as well as the U.S. Core Hydration Classic in early May. But after struggling on the uneven bars at the Core Hydration Classic, she withdrew from further events that weekend. Then, days before the U.S. Championships, she had to withdraw from competition after suffering an ankle injury during training, ending her bid for a spot on Team USA.