[adrotate banner=”1″]Lifetime starts off February with The Gabby Douglas Story, a biopic about the gymnast Olympian who won gold in the 2012 games. Imani Hakim plays the teenage Gabby Douglas, with Regina King as her mother and S. Epatha Merkerson as her grandma. I’ve always been a fan of women’s gymnastics, even if I don’t follow the sport regularly much any more, it’s always interesting to watch. Douglas overcame sickness, poverty, and discrimination to become a champion.

A prodigy from a very young age, Gabby Douglas originally made her mark on the world of competitive gymnastics at age eight. She won numerous state championship titles in her age group throughout her early competitive career. While her star was fast rising in the arena, Gabby and her family faced economic challenges at home and she made the difficult decision to leave her mother Natalie, three siblings and grandmother in Virginia Beach and move to Des Moines, Iowa, to train with renowned coach Liang Chow to pursue her dream of Olympic glory. Buoyed by her early success, dedication and unyielding love from her family, Gabby made it onto the 2012 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team, with whom she faced intense competition in the London Games. Her sacrifice and perseverance were triumphantly rewarded with Team Competition and Individual All-round gold medals, placing Gabby and her teammates – known as “The Fierce Five” — among the world’s all-time greats in gymnastics.

A review from the AVClub mentioned that the film glosses over some of the discrimination Douglas encountered. Both Douglas and her mother consulted/executive produced the film’s production.

The Gabby Douglas Story airs February 1st. Via Lifetime