Call them the Fab Four. Or, perhaps even more fitting, the Golden Girls.
After scoring the top spot on the medals stand in Thursday’s all-around gymnastics competition, Gabrielle “Gabby” Douglas was in good company with the three other American women who achieved the same feat.
Douglas, 16, officially joined the ranks of Nastia Liukin, Carly Patterson and Mary Lou Retton – and posed with her fellow all-around champions following her 62.232-point finish.
“Four generations of champs!” Tweeted Retton, 44, who won gold in the 1984 all-around. (Patterson, 24, won the all-around in 2004, and Liukin, 22, won it in 2008.)
“So proud of you @gabrielledoug,” Liukin Tweeted.
Added Patterson: “You are glowing!”
Her fellow Fab Five Team USA gymnasts – McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber, Kyla Ross and Aly Raisman – were also extending their praise to Douglas, who is the first African-American woman to win gold in the women’s all-around. Her victory, after all, came on the heels of their team gold-medal win on Tuesday.
“You are the Olympic all around champion,” Wieber wrote to Douglas on Twitter, “and you deserve it girl!”