"Golden” Gabby Douglas will be stepping back into the spotlight soon after a brief hiatus after her recent media blitz. Making history as the first African-American to win gold in the individual all-around gymnastics competition brought the athlete many opportunities. The sixteen-year-old made several television appearances over the summer — and can soon be seen on The Vampire Diaries. Douglasseven performed with Alicia Keys during the Video Music Awards. But we have not seen much of the golden girl from Virginia Beach in recent weeks. 

Until now. After appearing on Time in July, Douglas is set to grace the December issue of Essence, appearing on one of the issue’s two “Women of the Year” covers. The other image will feature Gabby with fellow Olympic gold medalists Allyson Felix, Carmelita Jeter and Sanya Richards-Ross of the USA Track & Field team.