Gabby Douglas Shows Off Evolution Of Olympic Leotards In TikTok Trend

Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas has joined the latest TikTok craze, showcasing her leotards from over the years in sync with the addictive "Emergency, paging Dr. Beat" sound.

In 2012, Douglas became the first African-American woman to win the individual all-around Olympic gold medal, changing the sport forever. Plus, as a member of the iconic "Fierce Five," Douglas helped the U.S. team win the gold medal in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Unfortunately, her Olympic comeback was cut short when an ankle injury forced her to withdraw from the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, which crushed Douglas' hopes of competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

While sidelined from competitive gymnastics, Gabby Douglas has captured hearts again, this time on TikTok, as she hopped on the latest trend--"Emergency, paging Dr. Beat."

Gabby Douglas secured her spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team by clinching the all-around title at the Olympic Trials in San Jose, California.

“It is everything I thought it’d be,” Douglas said at the time, per NBC. “It means so much. All the hard work and dedication and effort put in the gym and hard days. Hard days are the best because that’s (where) champions are made, so if you push through the hard days, you can get through anything.”

One of the many leotards Gabby Douglas modeled was her iconic pink leo from the 2012 Olympics, held in London, where she was part of the legendary "Fierce Five" gymnastics team. Alongside Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, and Kyla Ross, she clinched the gold medal for the United States. Douglas was the only member of the U.S. "Fierce Five" to compete in all four events--vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.

Fans of the athlete immediately recognized the pink leotard as comments came pouring in. "THE ICONIC PINK," one user said as another commented, "The pink was a moment in history."

"THE PINK LEO… THAT IS HISTORY," a third wrote.

"I think about the pink leo frequently," a fourth expressed.

That same year, she made history as she became the first African-American woman to win the coveted all-around gold.

Despite posting the third-highest score in the all-around preliminaries at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Gabby Douglas could not defend her title at the 2016 Olympics due to a rule limiting two competitors per country.

"After the 2016 Olympics—I honestly didn’t do my best, and that Olympics didn’t go quite in my favor— but I learned that medals, or like Grammys or Oscars, they’re amazing and they represent your hard work, but it’s not who you are," the athlete told TIME Magazine last year. "It doesn’t define you. You know you do your craft. That’s what you do, but it’s not who you are. And it took me a long time to figure that out. And I would always say like, without my medals I’m nothing."

Douglas added, "I’m still a human being, I still have many other talents to give, much more than just gymnastics. It’s so weird, but I guess it makes sense, because if you start to do the thing every single day… gymnastics was every single day since I was six. So, [with] gymnastics, [I was] like: this is who I am. But it’s not who I am."

In total, Gabby Douglas modeled eight leotards from over the years. "In honor of the Olympics thought I'd share some throwback leos," she captioned the video.

Following her 2012 Olympics win, becoming the first Black U.S. gymnast to win the Individual All-Around gold medal, Gabby Douglas reflected on the "surreal" moment.

" I was told always: just go out there, do nothing more, nothing less. Do how you do in training. And the results will speak for itself," she told TIME. "So like every competition, all I had in mind was just four events. Do your normal and you’re going to be fine. And that’s what I did. And I honestly, to this day, never expected to have that sort of impact on people [and] on the sport."

At 28 years of age, Gabby Douglas continues to advocate for mental health. Similar to Simone Biles, who dropped out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the "twisties," Gabby Douglas stepped away from gymnastics for eight years to care for her mental health.

"I didn't want to end this sport how I did in 2016. I wanted to take a step back and work on my mental state," she shared in a recent interview, according to Yahoo. "I love gymnastics and love pushing myself. I never wanted to walk away on a bad day."