With the summer Olympics only two months away, the world’s greatest athletes are putting on their game faces and getting ready to give their all in Rio De Janeiro. Most athletes train all of their lives to get a chance to perform against the super-stiff competition that the event brings. Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles are not only some of the youngest, but the most sought out athletes to compete in the gymnastics games.
For 20-year-old Gabby, this will be her second time at the Olympics and for 19-year-old Biles, her first. The ladies are proving that strength, tenacity, and talent can take you wherever your dreams allow. The dynamic young ladies are being celebrated for their achievements by sharing the cover of this month’s Teen Vogue in a strikingly beautiful shoot that embodies the essence of who they are.
The Team USA gymnasts are setting records and making history not just as women of color, but as women period. In 2012, Douglas took home the gold for her team and individually, making her the first African American woman to do so. As for Biles, she is ‘the only female gymnast to take home all-around gold at the prestigious World Gymnastics Championships three years in a row, her 10 golds there are the most of any female gymnast in history, and her 14 medals overall are the most of any American,” as reported by Teen Vogue.
In August, Douglas and Biles will be back on the main stage doing what they do best. In the Teen Vogue interview, Biles talked about how her mental game keeps her focused on what is most important, happiness.“If I thought of gymnastics as a job, it would put too much stress on me,” she told the magazine. “At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day.”
Douglas, whose fame stirred internet criticism in regards to her hair and body says that she looks up to other powerful women of color to keep her mental game on fleek. “I remember when everyone was talking about her arms, and she became very self-conscious about how muscular they were,” Douglas’ mother, Natalie Hawkins, told Teen Vogue. “Then Gabrielle saw the elegance with which Serena Williams handled all the negative criticism of her own body. It was liberating for my daughter to see that. She said, ‘I don’t have to apologize to anyone about my body. My body is beautiful.”
For more on the cover and feature you can check out the full article here.
