aly raisman bio

ALEXANDRA RAISMAN
GYMNASTICS
2011 World Championships (team) gold medalist
2012 Olympic hopeful
Personal Specs
Height: 5’2”
Date of birth: May 25, 1994
Hometown: Needham, MA
Residence: Needham, MA
On the Fast Track
2011 World Championships (floor) bronze medalist
2011 CoverGirl Classic Champion in all-around, vault & floor exercise
2010 World Championships (team) silver medalist
2010 Visa National Championships Three-time bronze medalist
Named to the U.S. National Team in 2009.
Competed and medaled at first career World Championships less than a year later.
Won first place vault, second place all-around, beam and floor exercise in first senior
level competition at the 2010 Tyson American Cup. Aly is regarded as one of the
world’s best tumblers with ability to win in all events.
Passion for the Olympics
Aly realized she wanted to be an Olympian when she was watching the 2004 Summer
Olympics. In 2008, Aly attended the Visa National Championships where former
Olympic gymnast and announcer John MacReady asked her an Olympic trivia
question in the crowd and stated “maybe you’ll be there someday.” Aly aims to be a
part of the first U.S. gold medal winning team since the 1996 Olympics.
Personal
Aly is the oldest of four siblings. She started gymnastics at 18 months old with her
mother, a former high school gymnast, in a local Mommy & Me class. Aly completed
junior year at Needham High School and is finishing high school online, to continue to
train for the Olympics, but still graduate with her classmates on-time. Her favorite
subject is science, and she was awarded the 2011 Pear D. Mazor Outstanding Female
Jewish High School Scholar-Athlete of the Year, awarded on behalf of the National
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Did You Know……?
•
Nickname: LaLa
•
Passions: Shopping, fashion, writing, music & spending time with family and
Friends
•
Dogs: Two Maltese, Coco & Magic
•
Keeps a journal of her experiences and aspires to publish it in the future.
•
Aly has compiled more than 150 pages to date, using some for schoolwork
but keeps most of it private.
•
Aly also has a passion for helping others in the community and has
volunteered with Special Olympics.
First Olympic Memory…
“I first saw the Olympics when I was eight years old. I used to watch the ’96 Olympic
Games over and over again, and I was really inspired when the team won the gold.
I remember all the athletes, but I especially remember when Kerri Strug landed her
vault. When I was watching the ’96 Olympics, I was in level four so it was just when I
started competing, and I was so excited, and watching them was so inspiring.”