Mother of gymnast Gabby Douglas: “stop humiliating my daughter”

The women’s artistic gymnastics team from the United States showed what they came up with during the finals that took place this past Tuesday (9): the five gymnasts were awarded the gold medal in all apparatus series – the team’s score, 185,238, had a wide difference of eight points, when compared to Russia, which occupied second place on the podium.

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But not all the effort, all the sweat shed during the impeccable jumps of the athletes and the golden victory was enough for some Americans: it was enough for young Gabby not to put her hand on her chest like her 4 companions, during the execution of the national anthem , as is customary during the medal ceremony, so that it would be slaughtered on social networks.

“She has to deal with people criticizing her hair, or accusing her of bleaching her skin. They said she needs a breast lift, that she wasn’t smiling enough, that she was unpatriotic.”says Natalie, the mother of the 20-year-old athlete Reuters: “Then rumors started to emerge that she didn’t help her teammates. She was even nicknamed ‘Grumpy Gabby’. It’s always like that, for every little thing you’re rejected. But I would like to know, what did she do to everyone? Stop humiliating my daughter.”

Even with an apology made in your account at twitter, in which Gabrielle explained that she “didn’t mean to be disrespectful” and assured her country of respect every time the national anthem is played. Even so, the offenses have not ceased – although there is no rule regarding the positioning of athletes on the podium, as long as everyone maintains posture and observes the flag of their homeland carefully.

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“I don’t think that respecting your country or its flag depends directly on whether you put your hand on your chest or not. It goes much further, it is in your actions towards your people and your nation, in respecting its laws. Those who offended my daughter are doing what to help those around them?” Natalie said: “My family grew up in a military community. My mother spent nearly 30 years of her life in the military, my father is a two-time Vietnam War veteran. So it was an insult to accuse my daughter of being unpatriotic when we have military ties in the family. When the national anthem is played, most families who follow this tradition salute or stand in homage.”

“We’ve already shed a lot of tears because I don’t know what she’s going to do to deflect all these attacks. For me, there is no doubt: it is bullying”, says the mother: “When I looked at her after stepping onto the podium, I saw someone who was hurt, and also very angry. I’m afraid there’s going to be the thought in her head, ‘I’m being attacked for everything I do, so I should just sit back and do nothing, because no matter what I try, they’ll call me names again.’

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“It is a great honor for me to be her mother, because she is the bravest person I know”, concludes Natalie about the girl who was also a gold medalist at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and also has the merit of having being the first African-American gymnast to win all apparatus sets during a final.

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