Gabby Douglas' gold medal performance in the all-around happened almost 4,000 miles away from Chicago.
But it echoed loudly at the Lakeshore Academy on the Near Northwest Side, where aspiring Olympic gymnasts arrived Friday buzzing about what they'd seen the night before.
"I think she's brilliant, all of her skills are spot-on, perfect, stuck landing and her smile is just amazing," said gymnast Darby Higgins.
"It makes me want to be like her because she's really good and she does really great skills," said gymnast Anya Andryushchenko.
"Her stuff is just really amazing. And powerful," said 16-year old gymnast Nylah Byrd.
Pretty much every up-and-coming gymnast at Lakeshore Academy had their eyes glued to Gabby Douglas' performance, and it wasn't just the girls who were inspired.
"She had a wonderful story about how she wanted to quit at first and her sister told her not to quit, just to keep fighting," said aspiring Olympic gymnast Max Andryushchenko. "And she eventually came out on top. Gabby's performance was amazing."
Douglas may be the third straight American woman to win the all-around, but she's the first African American to do it.
"That's pretty awesome, actually," said Byrd. Especially in a sport in which she says African Americans aren't well-represented.
"Most people would think, 'Oh, you might be doing basketball or something else.' But it's really nice to see a gymnast that's African American win," said Adanna Byrd.
