Sports

Surf’s Up for 2013 Teen Choice Award Winner Gymnast Gabby Douglas

The West Des Moines-trained Olympic gold medalist has collected another trophy, and it won't slip nicely around her neck or display well on a mantel.

West Des Moines trained Olympic gymnastics champion Gabby Douglas has another prize and it’s not a gold medal.

It’s a surfboard, “which was nice because, really, one can never have enough surfboards” the Washington Post reported of the gymnast’s top honor in the female athlete category in Teen Choice Awardsd on FOX. The award were announced on Sunday after more than 150 million votes were cast in various categories.

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The prize in the isn’t a small surfboard, either, but a trophy that almost hides the petite gymnast nicknamed “The Flying Squirrel” by U.S. national gymnastics team coordinator Martha Karolyi as a nod to her gravity-defying releases off the uneven bars,

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was also the winner of the AP’s Female Athlete of the Year award in 2012 and the Young Stars Award and Sportswoman of the Year at the BET Awards in July. She was also nominated for ESPYs for Best Female Athlete and, with the Fierce Five, Best Team. She also graced a recent cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids.

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According to NBC Sports, Douglas plans to return to competition next year. That means she won’t be defending her title at the USA Gymnastics National Championships in Hartford, CT.


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