Most Popular Athlete In The Olympics: Gabby Douglas “Lands” People Magazine Cover

August 8th, 2012 - By Alissa Henry
"Gabby on People Magazine"

Source: Bossip.com

Just five days after becoming the first black girl to win the all-around title in gymnastics and the first gymnast to win that title as well as the team gold, Gabby Douglas is on the cover of People Magazine.

She’ll likely make big bucks for the publication, considering she is the single most popular athlete in this year’s Olympics. According to the Associated Press:

NBC says the gymnastics gold medalist is the most clicked-upon athlete on its Olympics website. Through Sunday, her profile on the site had more than 18 million page views. That’s far above the second-ranked athlete, swimmer Michael Phelps, whose profile had just over 7 million page views.

Clearly, America loves women’s gymnastics. NBC also says that four of the five most clicked-upon athletes were female gymnasts.

Gabby’s press coverage was slow in the beginning as many were still focused on World Champion Jordyn Wieber. In fact MSNBC’s Tamron Hall credited black bloggers for the initial buzz around Gabby after she won an automatic bid in the US Olympic finals. By the time she led her team to win their first gold medal since the Magnificent Seven won in 1996, she was a household name. She sealed her place in history after becoming only the fourth US gymnast in history to win the all-around gold medal.

In the past two weeks, her rise in popularity has been nearly as stunning as her performances. She gained a Twitter shoutout from the likes of Oprah, Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga; a website shoutout from Beyonce; a phone call from President Obama; and a face-to-face meeting with Kate Middleton. Not too shabby for a 16-year-old from Virginia Beach who only began training with her current coach in Iowa a mere 21 months ago.

Now the teen athlete can take her star power all the way to the bank. USA Today reports that Gabby is the biggest gymnastic star since Mary Lou Retton and her accomplishment combined with her personality ensures that the endorsements have already begun rolling in:

An all-around gymnastics gold medal is worth about $2 million annually in endorsements. And Douglas picked up a big one last Friday, landing on front of the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes cereal box. She’d previously signed a deal with Procter & Gamble after winning the U.S. Olympic trials in San Jose.

AJ Maestas, president of Chicago-based Navigate Marketing told LA Times: ”If [Gabby's] business is well-managed and her career stays on track, she should make between $2 million and $4 million in endorsement revenue per year for the next four years.”

Her business should be well-managed as the LA Times also reported that Gabby has an agent, Sheryl Shade. The same agent who helped Shawn Johnson parlay her 2008 Olympic performance of three silver medals and a balance beam gold into a post-Olympic career that included a winning turn on “Dancing With the Stars”. Sounds like Gabby is already on the right track.

Though the gymnast wrote that winning the Team Gold was the biggest night of her life, it’s highly likely she has big days ahead as well. Kudos to People Magazine for choosing her for the cover.

Follow Alissa on Twitter @AlissaInPink

 

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  • sammi_lu

    People can’t enough of Lil’ Gabby whether it’s praise or hating..she is all the buzz!

  • monitorette

    Gabrielle Douglas is a gymnast, not an athlete.

  • DEB

    You never ever evererrrrrr see a person with that much melanin on the cover of people magazine and trust me, i’ve been glancing for years. The magazine racks stay full of white faces (apart from opera who OWNS her own mag). I’m so happy for GABBY and i’m proud of the glass ceiling she’s cracking. I know it’s not her goal but it is happening.

  • gabbythewinner

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  • Candacey Doris

    Good for her. She deserves the attention and the money. I hope she doesn’t do anything foolish with it though. I especially hope she makes the next Olympic team in 4 years.

    • DEB


      hope she doesn’t do anything foolish with it though.”

      yep, any teeny tiny misstep and the american media will eat her up for it. She was not their first pick for olympic sweetheart….

      • Candacey Doris

        True enough. They wanted Jordyn Wieber or that swimmer, Missy. Or even Lolo Jones. This cute black girl was not in the cards. But I am so proud of her. My niece was imitating her the whole time the event was on.

      • CA Pullen

        I agree I pray that she does not do anything foolish as well, the media is watching her every move waiting for to fall and will try to tear her to pieces. I pray that Gabby surrounds herself with people who has her best interest at heart and continue to work hard as she did in the olympics.

  • CA Pullen

    Gabby looks so beautiful on the people cover. Hopefully Ebony, Essence, and Jet are smart they should start trying to land Gabby for their cover.

  • Hello_Kitty81

    Good for her, I will cop that issue and my daughter wants to be a gymnast like Gabby. Plus she didn’t have to glam up for the cover and no airbrushing, point ZERO for the haters on Twitter!

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