Despite rumors that she left the gym less than two weeks ago, Gabby Douglas will continue training at WOGA gymnastics for the upcoming 2024 Olympics.
WOGA (World Olympic Gymnastics Academy) has two gyms in Collin County, with the largest in Plano. The gym is run by former Soviet gymnast Anna Liukin and her husband who have been Douglas’ coaches since 2022.
However, on Feb. 26 Liukin told the Olympics that Douglas had left the gym earlier that week. The post came shortly after Douglas was set to return to competition with the Winter Cup in Kentucky, but was unable to due to testing positive for COVID-19.
Following the release of that announcement, a representative for Gabby Douglas at WME Agency confirmed that Douglas was still at WOGA.
“Gabby is still at WOGA,” the representative told Inside Gymnastics. “She remains laser focused on doing everything in her power to put herself in the best position for Paris, including exploring every training opportunity that might best suit that mission. Presently, that is at WOGA.”
Douglas, 28, is the 2012 Olympic all-around champion and 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She is known as one of U.S. Olympics’ “Final Five,” a media-created nickname for the gold-winning American teams at the 2011 and 2015 World Championships consisting of Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Aly Raisman and one of the “Fierce Five,” the gold medal-winning team at the 2012 London Olympics.
Since the 2016 Rio Olympics, Douglas hasn’t made a return to competition. According to many in the gymnastic community, returning after so long will be no easy feat. Essentially Sports even claimed that Douglas would be the oldest Olympic participant in history if she makes the team. (We fact checked, and even in the gymnastics category Oksana Chusovitina competed in the 2020 Olympics at 45, so Douglas has quite a ways to go for that accomplishment.)
Her next competition is slated for May 17 and 18 at the Core Hydration Classic, according to ABC27. In order to qualify for the U.S. Championships, Douglas will have to take part in April’s national team camp, the American Classic or the U.S. Classic in April and May, according to Essentially Sports.
