Washington, August 6 : Natalie Hawkins, mother of Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas, had filed for bankruptcy earlier this year in Virginia, according to court records.

According to TMZ, the documents were filed in January in the Eastern District of Virginia, Hawkins filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which allows people to reorganize their finances and pay down debt over several years.

Douglas has been one of the most popular athletes at the Olympics in London, becoming the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in gymnastics.

The 4-foot-11 inch youngster has won two gold medals so far and has become an international superstar, winning over fans with her smile and the nickname "Flying Squirrel."

The 16-year-old's agent has fielded hundreds of emails from businesses, talk shows and magazines interested in Douglas, and she's already slated to appear on the cover of a Corn Flakes box.

She stands to earn millions of dollars from endorsement deals and other ventures. Douglas has been training for two years in Iowa and hasn't been home to Virginia Beach since then.

The bankruptcy filings list Hawkins as having assets totalling 163,706 dollars, with a townhouse in Virginia Beach and a 2007 Nissan Maxima accounting for the bulk of it.

Hawkins said that the bankruptcy filing allowed her "to still be able to live and reorganize my debt in such a way that I could still pay what I owed."

"It's my story, it's part of me. I'm not even embarrassed about it," Hawkins said on Sunday in London.

"It shows that even though I didn't like to have to do it, I'm glad there was something there for me to be able to protect my home," she said.

Hawkins also lists roughly 80,000 dollars in debts. The bulk of that is from her mortgage.

According to the documents, Hawkins is separated from her husband and lists about 2,500 dollars in income a month, which comes from Social Security disability benefits and child support.

Hawkins had gone on long-term medical disability in 2009, and there were six months when the single mother of four had little to no income. In addition to mortgage payments for her home, there were expenses for Douglas' training and her other three children.

An order issued in March told Hawkins to pay 400 dollars a month toward her debts over a nearly five-year period. (ANI)