’ bid for a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics came to an end in May when she injured her ankle, but the gymnast is not giving up on her comeback dreams.
During an interview with People published on Thursday, July 18, Douglas, 28, said that she’s aiming to compete in the 2028 games in Los Angeles.
“I know it’s four years away, but I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “Still representing the USA, still continuing to do gymnastics, so I’m excited.”
Douglas hurt her ankle during a training session ahead of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
“It was very bittersweet,” she said of her injury. “And it was actually doing my signature skill, which is the [standing] full on the beam.”
If Douglas had made it to this summer’s Olympics, she would’ve been the oldest U.S. gymnast to compete in the games since 1952. She’ll be 32 when the 2028 Olympics come around, but she’s not worried about the passing years.
“I feel like, at this point, age is really just a number because my body can still do amazing things, even at 28,” she said. “And I just think that when you have the proper diet, structure, schedule and everything that aligns, then you can do anything that you put your mind to.”
Douglas was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. gymnastics teams at both the 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is the 2012 Olympic all-around champion and the 2015 all-around silver medalist. Douglas said on Thursday that her passion for the sport started early and hasn’t waned since.
“Even when I was younger, I always loved going to the gym and challenging myself,” she said. “I was always a super daredevil. I would always just flip and try new things, and my coach would always say, ‘Wait, hold on. You’re not ready for that. Let’s do the basics to get to the more difficult skills.’”
Douglas knows firsthand how much hard work goes into qualifying for the Olympics, which is why she personally prefers a coach who pushes her.
“Not a mean coach — I think people get that very confused — not a mean coach, but a tough coach that will really push the best out of you,” Douglas told E! News in an interview published on Thursday. “I typically get very lazy. I need that coach to be like, ‘Hey, nope, let’s wake up, let’s do it,’ because I get very distracted easily.”
Douglas acknowledged that her coaching preferences might not work for everyone when asked about former gymnast ’s recent criticism of Team USA Gymnastics. (In May, Skinner, 27, said in a since-deleted YouTube video that, apart from , “the talent and depth [on the team] just isn’t like what it used to be” and that “a lot of girls don’t work as hard.”)
“Honestly, if you have a certain way of doing things, listen to your body,” Douglas said. “If you don’t need hours of pounding or you don’t need a tougher coach, and it works for you, then I say why not structure around how your mind is, how your body is? … I really believe that you can’t put everyone in the same category. That’s just my take on it, everyone’s different.”
