Olympic champion gymnast Gabby Douglas left her longtime coach, Liang Chow, for the second time since the London Games last week, according to the Des Moines Register.
Douglas, 18, returned to Chow’s Des Moines gym in April after spending eight months in California. The last three months have been a “tryout period,” Chow told the newspaper.
“She is searching for a new coach, I guess,” Chow said. “When the [tryout] period was over, she had to make a decision — either train here or train somewhere else. As I talked to her, I respect her opinion on her decision.”
Douglas is still intent on making a run to the 2016 Rio Olympics to defend her all-around title.
“I’m committed to Rio,” Douglas told The Associated Press. “I’m not going to let anything get in the way of that.
“This comeback is for real.”
Douglas attended her first U.S. National Team camp since the Olympics in Texas in June and has said she hopes to compete on all four apparatus at the P&G Championships from Aug. 21-24 in Pittsburgh.
U.S. National Team coordinator Martha Karolyi lauded Douglas’ physical shape after that June camp (Douglas attended a subsequent camp two weeks ago) and hoped Douglas would return to competition at the Secret U.S. Classic on Aug. 2 in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
Douglas, who has not competed since the London Olympics, did not enter the Secret U.S. Classic.