Douglas went on to say that when her hair previously grew a little, she had to cut it all off because it was so damaged.

\"I cried and cried and cried,\" Douglas said. \"Most days I didn't even want to go to the gym because I felt so embarrassed that all my hair was gone.\"

In 2012, Douglas' pulled-back ponytail was met with criticism from people on social media during a time when many would agree that more attention should have been put on the gold medals she was winning.

Regardless of her personal hair struggles and public scrutiny, Douglas also said in her caption that she kept going.

Video: #FreeTheCurls: Why ABC News' Janai Norman chose to embrace her natural hair on TV

\"Fast forward to the both Olympics and my hair was the topic of conversation,\" she said. \"Now here I am today - no extensions - no clip-ins - no wigs - no chemicals - all me.\"

Since posting, Douglas' natural hair reveal and message have received more than 76,000 likes and loads of comments cheering her on.

One Instagrammer Ry Ybarra wrote \"I remember how you made History!! And all the media did was criticize your hair.. Who has the last laugh now!! You are awesome Gabby!\"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gabby Douglas (@gabbycvdouglas) on Aug 18, 2020 at 12:05pm PDT

Prior to giving fans a look at her natural hair, Douglas excited fans with another vibrant blonde look several weeks earlier in August.

She captioned the photo, \"Hey. Who's the blonde?\"

Douglas seems to be having lots of fun with her hair, and we can't wait to see what she shares next.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Style/olympic-gymnast-gabby-douglas-shows-off-natural-hair/story?id=72861244","legacySlug":"/style/story/olympic-gymnast-gabby-douglas-shows-off-natural-hair-72861244","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"15:47","publishDate":"09-07-2020","updatedTime":"16:40","updatedDate":"09-08-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas teaches Jay Pharoah gymnastics in Los Angeles, March 2, 2020.","credit":"Rich Polk/Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/gabby-douglas-file-gty-jef-200907_1599486123413_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"9/7/2020 15:47:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":72861244,"headline":"Olympian Gabby Douglas shows off natural hair","mediaAssetTitle":"GABBY DOUGLAS NATURAL HAIR","description":"\"No extensions, no clip-ins, no wigs, no chemicals, all me,\" Douglas wrote.","duration":"0:59","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/10/191031_gma_digital_naturalholidayhair_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["72567879","72604775","72816441"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"August 24, 2020","headline":"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shares her beauty routine: 'Femininity has power'","section":"style","slug":"/style/story/congresswoman-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-shares-skin-makeup-routine-72567879","id":72567879,"image":{"alt":"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shares her beauty routine: 'Femininity has power'","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-gty-jef-200824_1598279501408_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"DNCC via Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"September 3, 2020","headline":"Labor Day Sales 2020: Browse the best deals from Target, Macy's, Amazon and More","section":"style","slug":"/style/story/labor-day-sales-2020-browse-best-fashion-beauty-72604775","id":72604775,"image":{"alt":"Labor Day Sales 2020: Browse the best deals from Target, Macy's, Amazon and More","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/labor-day-sales-target-01-gty-llr-200903_1599152128370_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"View Press via Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"September 4, 2020","headline":"Fascinators and face masks are taking over for Kentucky Derby 2020","section":"style","slug":"/style/story/kentucky-derby-2020-fascinators-face-masks-making-fashion-72816441","id":72816441,"image":{"alt":"Fascinators and face masks are taking over for Kentucky Derby 2020","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/kenzie-1-ht-er-200904_1599240669139_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Kenzie Kapp","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Olympian Gabby Douglas shows off natural hair","description":"\"No extensions, no clip-ins, no wigs, no chemicals, all me,\" Douglas wrote.","duration":"0:59","uploadDate":"09-07-2020","publication":"09-07-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/10/191031_gma_digital_naturalholidayhair_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/10/191031_gma_digital_naturalholidayhair_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/style/story/olympic-gymnast-gabby-douglas-shows-off-natural-hair-72861244"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:style:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"style","title":"Olympian Gabby Douglas shows off natural hair","pubTime":"11:47","pubDate":"09-07-2020","modTime":"12:40","modDate":"09-08-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":72861244,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"Nidhi Singh","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Olympian Gabby Douglas shows off natural hair","mediaAssetTitle":"GABBY DOUGLAS NATURAL HAIR","videoId":72861244,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/style/story/olympic-gymnast-gabby-douglas-shows-off-natural-hair-72861244"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/72861244","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/72861244","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};