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Published January 27, 2017
This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," December 5, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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O'REILLY: "Personal Story" segment tonight. Last summer, 16-year-old Gabby Douglas from Virginia won two Olympic gold medals in gymnastics. We're all very happy because her personality was warm and it made her an instant star.
But Ms. Douglas has had a very, very difficult home situation to overcome. She writes about it in a new book called, "Grace, Gold & Glory, My Leap of Faith." And I talked with her last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
So, reading this book, I felt sorry for you. I really did. Fourteen- year-old girl, no dad around, mom trying to raise you and three siblings.
GABBY DOUGLAS, TWO-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Yes.
O'REILLY: And then, all of a sudden, you have to go to Iowa to compete. That's really tough. Did you see it that way when it was happening.
DOUGLAS: I knew I had to accomplish a dream. And if I wanted to accomplish it, then I had to sacrifice a lot more.
O'REILLY: Were you crying at night and stuff. Were you --
DOUGLAS: I definitely was. My mom left. She stayed with me for a week in Iowa. And when she left, I about bawled for a few months actually. And I had -- it was my decision so I had to come to a conclusion, saying it was my decision.
O'REILLY: All right. So, you had enough discipline even though it was unhappy time. So, then, you compete, you get in the groove and you go over to London. And you got all the best in the world there. Did you think you were going to win.
DOUGLAS: I was confident in my performances. I didn't think about winning. I thought about how great and what I can do on that given day.
O'REILLY: Were you nervous.
DOUGLAS: I was very nervous.
O'REILLY: How did you cope with that.
DOUGLAS: Well, I was trained to deal with under the pressure. And, Coach Chow, one of my coaches, he has me do pressure steps which means there's a lot of action going in the gym.
They try to distract me, so when I go to competition, I can just perform there and cruise right on.
O'REILLY: All right. Now, well, you won the two golds, right. You win.
DOUGLAS: Yes.
O'REILLY: Now, you're world-famous. Everybody knows you. How did your world change.
DOUGLAS: It was kind of like an overnight celebrity, "She's Gabrielle Douglas on Top." And, I mean, it's been a whirlwind and everything has just been a blast.
O'REILLY: Final question is, you write a lot about your faith. How did you get involved with a belief in God at such a young age.
DOUGLAS: I've been always been exposed to Jesus and the bible. And my mom always exposed me and the rest of my siblings to that.
And I love reading the bible. I love reading about different stories --
O'REILLY: What does it do for you.
DOUGLAS: It plays a big role in my life. It does me so good. I mean, God has blessed me over the past years and he's kept me safe.
And, now, the glory goes all to him because he's given me this amazing God-given talent.
O'REILLY: Would you ever get mad at God and say, "Why didn't I have two parents and why do I have to leave home and why was it so hard." Did you ever get mad at him.
DOUGLAS: No. It's always about the perspective. I mean, I don't have two parents but I have two gold medals under my name.
So, you always have to turn the upside down just, you know, right side up because, I mean you always have to look at the positive things.
O'REILLY: What do you want to do now. What's next.
DOUGLAS: 2016.
O'REILLY: So, you're going to go to the Olympics again.
DOUGLAS: Yes.
O'REILLY: You're going to try to improve on yourself again.
DOUGLAS: Yes.
O'REILLY: And so, that will take you four years of, pretty much, training and what you did. What are you going to do differently in your life now that you're kind of independent. You can be independent by then.
DOUGLAS: Well, I want to get my driver's license. So, that's one thing.
(LAUGHTER)
I'm going to start heading back into the gym and just train. And I want to gain more. I want to go to more international assignments and more world championships.
And, I think, It will be very cool if I attended two Olympic games.
O'REILLY: All right. Education?
DOUGLAS: Yes.
O'REILLY: What do you want to do there.
DOUGLAS: I haven't -- I do want to go to College but I haven't figured out what I want to do yet. Still, I'm taking it one step at a time, one day at a time.
O'REILLY: All right. Gabrielle, thanks for coming in. The book is "Grace, Gold & Glory."
DOUGLAS: Well, thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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