Gabriel Douglas of Virginia Beach, Virginia became the third straight American to win gymnastics’ biggest prize after she conquered the all-around Olympic title on Thursday. Douglas, 16, also made history, becoming the first African-American to take home the title, finishing with a score of 62.232, about three-tenths ahead of Viktoria Komova of Russia. It’s her second gold medal of the London Games, coming two nights after she and her “Fab Five” teammates gave the U.S. its first Olympic team title since 1996. “It feels amazing to be the Olympic Champion,” Douglas said with a bright smile.
Douglas’ U.S. teammate Michael Phelps continued to make history on Thursday after he defeated arch-rival and teammate Ryan Lochte to win the men’s 200m individual medley. It was the 27-year-old’s 16th gold medal of his unprecedented Olympic career, and his first in an individual event at the 2012 London Games. “That was cool, I knew Ryan (Lochte) would be tough but coming off the 200 back that was a hard double,” he told BBC Sport. Phelps, who disclosed he received a congratulatory phone call from U.S. President Barack Obama, has two more events to add to his tally of 20 Olympic medals before retiring from swimming.
