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Aly Raisman is living the dream

‘Really amazing’ and ‘dream come true’ perfectly describe the past couple years for 17-year-old gymnast Aly Raisman, who found herself repeating those phrases in a recent interview with TeamUSA.org.

“It was a really amazing feeling because I watched the girls in 2003 and 2007 win the gold medal so to be able to be a part of a world championship team is a dream come true,” Raisman said of helping lead the U.S. team to a gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo in October.

As one of the most experienced gymnasts on the U.S. national team, Raisman is truly living the dream of any elite gymnast.  She has gone from idolizing veteran gymnasts such as Alicia Sacramone to competing on two world championship teams alongside Sacramone.  Raisman’s international competition experience also includes the past two American Cups, where she earned silver and bronze all-around medals.  Domestically, Raisman earned gold for all-around, vault and floor, and bronze on balance beam at this year’s CoverGirl Classic, followed by all-around bronze at the 2011 Visa Championships.

In a wide open field with dozens of gymnasts competing for just five spots on the U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team, Raisman is perhaps the closest there is to a ‘shoe-in.’

She and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Sacramone, who are both coached by Mihai Brestyan in Burlington, Mass., are the only two gymnasts to make the past two world teams.  And when Sacramone tore her Achilles tendon doing her floor routine the morning of prelims in Tokyo, Raisman found herself in a new role, that of team leader.

“It was really devastating for everyone, I just tried to tell the girls that we have to keep pushing forward and do it for her,” Raisman said.  “I was there last year so I tried to just help the girls wherever they needed it because I know that being at world championships, even though it was my second time it’s still nerve-wracking and intimidating so I know how they feel being there the first time.”

“It was a big blow for us but we were lucky, we had Aly there she has experience from one year ago, all the others are really new on the market and she managed to put them together,” Brestyan said.

In a short period of time Raisman was forced to progress from rookie to veteran and step into Sacramone’s role of leader, captain, mentor and encourager. 

“I didn’t really think of it as taking over just because I love the girls so much, we’re all such great friends so I just thought of it as supporting my best friends and being there for them and we’re all a family so it seemed right,” Raisman said.

Raisman gave her teammates pep talks throughout the night of team finals to encourage them, which paid off as the U.S. had a sizable lead before Raisman’s floor routine, the last U.S. performance of the night.

“It was really amazing, I didn’t even realize what score I needed to get before my floor routine but I guess I needed like a 10-something but I just did my floor routine as if I needed a huge score, I just tried to finish USA on a strong note.”

She earned a 14.833, helping the U.S. women earn their title of world champions, the third world team title for the U.S. women and Raisman’s first world championship medal.

Two days later, Raisman reminded the world why she is not only one of the best in the U.S. but also among the top gymnasts in the world when she finished fourth in the all-around competition. 

“I was so impressed with myself, I never expected to be in fourth place even with a perfect meet so it was really awesome to be able to finish like that,” Raisman said.

Raisman’s performance that night was not perfect, which made her success even sweeter.  After posting a 15.233 on vault, Raisman was in second place going into the second rotation but she seemed to lose her concentration on bars and struggled to finish the routine, earning a 12.900.

“Aly is a great gymnast, sometimes she just has small things in her mind that she needs to pass,” Brestyan said of the mistake.  “One year ago she killed the all-around on the same point.  This year she still was afraid of that… I hope she’ll get over that because that’s only a mental problem, there’s nothing else.

“She’s a medal contender for next year and she’s working hard on bars and I hope she will do it because until that moment she didn’t make any mistakes on this bars routine.”

Raisman made a strong comeback with a 14.525 on beam and 14.900 on floor.  Her teammate Jordyn Wieber took the gold, becoming the sixth U.S. woman to earn the title world champion.  On the final night of competition in Tokyo, Raisman competed on the two event finals she qualified for – balance beam and floor.  She placed fourth on beam, a familiar spot to her, and then scored a 15.000 on floor, good enough for a bronze medal, the first individual world medal of her career.

“It was amazing, I’ve been waiting so long for that,” Raisman said.  “It’s definitely a dream come true and hopefully next year there will be a couple more; I mean, I’m always looking to the next thing, it’s never good enough because I always want to do more and it always makes me more determined to do better next time.” 

Raisman took just one day off after worlds before getting back in the gym and going full-force in preparation for earning a spot for the London 2012 Olympic Games.  She is completing her senior year of high school online as she puts in double sessions in the gym with Brestyan every day and plans to “make sure everything I do revolves around gymnastics.”  But like any teenager she still hopes to attend prom and graduation with her friends in the spring.

She recently gave up her amateur status and signed with management and marketing firm Octagon Olympics and Action Sports.  Earlier this month, Ralph Lauren Corporation announced Raisman as one of its 13 brand ambassadors of the Ralph Lauren 2012 Olympic Collection.  She is on an impressive list of U.S. athletes that includes six Olympic and Paralympic gold medalists.

Though the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for gymnastics are not until June 28, Raisman is currently gearing up for her next big competition, the 2012 AT&T American Cup, a FIG World Cup event, held in New York City on March 3.  This is the third American Cup Raisman has been invited to compete in and this one is perhaps most exciting for her as it kicks off the Olympic year for gymnastics – one that is sure to be a whirlwind for Raisman. 

“It’s crazy because when I first came [to Brestyan’s American Gymnastics] it was right after the 2004 Olympics and I was so inspired and to be able to even be considered for the 2012 Olympics is crazy and it’s such a dream come true because I always thought of it when I was little and for it to actually be so close is just so exciting and so crazy.”

Brandon Penny is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.