13. Gabby Douglas wins AP Female Athlete of the Year Two high school girls finished 1-2 in balloting for the 2012 Associated Press U.S. Female Athlete of the Year.
Gabby Douglas won top honors with 48 of 157 votes from a panel of AP
sports editors throughout the U.S. A home-schooled sophomore from
Virginia Beach, Va., she captured the all-around gymnastics gold medal
during the 2012 London Olympics. Douglas, 16, also
helped the U.S. women win the team gold medal for only the second time
in history.
Gabby Douglas received the Women's Sports
Foundation 2012 Sportswoman of the Year.
Getty images
She was the fourth U.S. woman and the first African-American woman to win
the coveted all-around Olympic gold medal.
Douglas is a native of Virginia Beach, but has been living in West
Des Moines, Iowa while working with Chow Gymnastics, which also
produced another standout Olympian, Shawn Johnson.
In Oct. she received the Women's Sports Foundation 2012 Sportswoman of
the Year Award during the 33rd Annual Salute to Women
in Sports banquet in New York City.
Douglas told the AP, "I didn't
realize how much of an impact I made. My mom and everyone said, 'You
really won't know the full impact until you're 30 or 40 years old.' But
it's starting to sink in."
Swimmer Missy Franklin was just seven votes behind in second place.
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