Gabby Douglas' Gold-Clinching Floor Routine Is Most Clutch Performance of Games

Gabby Douglas has ice water running through her veins and the steady hands of a seasoned Olympic champion. At only 16 years old, Douglas has surpassed her teammates and the world as the best all-around gymnast.

After an amazing performance that helped the U.S. team—dubbed the “Fab Five”—earn a gold medal in the team competition, Douglas had only one event left to really prove to the world she belonged.

This was an event in which she only scored a 13.766 during the qualifying rounds.

Just as she’s done all along, she went out and nailed every move with the utmost concentration and focus. With everything on the line, she completely destroyed her qualifying mark with a score of 15.033. That was good enough to secure her gold medal.

Gabby Douglas, Ms. Clutch.

Celebrity appearances, Corn Flakes box photo shoots and all that comes with the results of her enormous achievement would be nothing without her ability to perform perfectly under pressure.

Her floor routine performance to win the women’s all-around gold is the perfect example of pure determination, desire to achieve and endless self-confidence. It’s the true definition of realizing one’s dreams through hard work and perseverance. What, if I recall, used to be called “The American Dream.”

Even with the bright lights of the world stage, the young American gymnast didn’t slip up once when the pressure was greatest and everything was riding on perfection from the young Olympian.

Quite the contrary.

Douglas, affectionately known as the “Flying Squirrel,” went out with a sense of urgency and brought everyone to their feet with her dynamic and gutsy floor performance. She knew that without a perfect routine, Russian gymnast Viktoria Komova could inch past her and steal the gold from her.

Instead of leaving it up to fate, Douglas snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with one of the most clutch performances in recent sports history.

Can you name a better clutch performance in these London Games, in any sport recently?

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