.jpg)
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
So let me start by saying, how about that US Gymnastics team?!? Were they incredible or what! I always watch the summer Olympics in awe of our athletes who are competing among the best in the world to be number one. Can you imagine the pressure? Yet every four years the United States is represented by the best and the brightest athletes who overcome the pressure and bring home gold!
Thursday night Gabby Douglas proved what a shining star she is. Through her hard work and dedication she earned not one but two Olympic gold medals and she is only sixteen! In fact, several athletes that compete in the Olympics compete in their teens and not just from the United States. I can only imagine the feelings and emotions that Gabby has experienced thus far in her Olympic experience. I can only imagine the hard work and the sacrifices that her and her family has had to make to get to this moment.
Oh and did I mention she is a military child? Her father is a SSG in the Air National Guard. He had just returned from his third deployment when he made it to San Jose to see his daughter compete in the Olympic trials.
Now here is where I get to the part that baffles me. After achieving all that she has, the social media world has been bombarded with comments about this child’s HAIR! Forget that she is the first African American to win gold in the individual all-around gymnastics competition. Forget the sacrifices she has to make to get to where she is. Forget the pressures she has had to overcome from being a part of the Olympics at such a young age. Instead of overflowing with pride for this amazing athlete and all her accomplishments, some want to focus on what her hair looked like?? Really?!?
Thankfully most of us still want to focus on Gabby’s triumphs and could care less what her hair looked like. I am just always struck at how easy it is for people to make judgments on others. How easily people criticize rather than uplift. How petty people can be sometimes.
Well, I am here to say that as my neighbor and our daughters watched Gabby receive her gold medal, we were filled with absolute pride at our amazing American athlete and the history she was making at that moment. She is an amazing role model for our military children and she deserves better than petty criticisms about her hair.
GABBY – GO ON WITH YOUR BAD SELF GIRL!!
For those who still insist on talking about her hair – GET A LIFE!
Janet