5 fun facts about once (and future?) Olympian Aly Raisman

JTA — Here’s what to know about Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman as the Jewish gymnast trains for next summer’s Rio games.

She’s into Spandex.

Like many top gymnasts, Raisman has her own leotard line (with the brand GK Elite) and sends leotards out to her gymnastics competitors (and some figure skaters) abroad. To thank her for the gifts, the athletes take selfies in them and post them to Instagram.

She’s a (relative) klutz.

“She always jokes that she’s so uncoordinated,” her mother, Lynn Raisman, said. “We can be walking somewhere, shopping or to a restaurant and she’ll trip over nothing.”

Jewish Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman in an ESPN photo shoot. (YouTube screenshot)

When Raisman posed nude for ESPN’s “The Body Issue,” she confirmed as much, telling the magazine that she “pulled a Jennifer Lawrence,” when she and some of her fellow Olympians attended the 2013 Golden Globes.

She’s messy.

And that’s by her own admission. She told Glamour magazine that on the road she often bunks with Olympic champion Gabby Douglas, who complains about Raisman’s disorderliness.

She has an excellent memory.

As her mother told JTA: “I’ve been with her on the beach, and she’ll say to me, ‘That’s the judge from Level 4, and this is the score she gave me on beam.’”

She’s quite the box jumper.

NFL star J.J. Watt may currently own the world record in the box jump, but Raisman’s is far more impressive than his 61-inch vertical jump. Though she jumps up on a shorter box, she does a back flip off of it. And she repeats this feat four more times

Aly Raisman has her eyes on Rio

GLASGOW, Scotland — Once the music started playing — not “Hava Nagila,” which made her the Jewish poster child of the London Games, but something equally folksy — Aly Raisman tumbled right out of bounds. On her first bit of gymnastics at her comeback World Championships here last month, she had quickly incurred a major setback.

This certainly was not how the 21-year-old defending Olympic champion on floor exercise saw the start of her first World Championships in more than four years. The competition, after all, comes less than a year before the Olympic Games in Rio, where she hopes to compete, and at a time when she faces her stiffest competition yet — from her U.S. teammate and two-time world champion Simone Biles.

After winning two gold medals in London, including one with the U.S. team, Raisman, then 18, took time off from gymnastics to enjoy opportunities that had come her way. She performed on tour with her teammates, competed on “Dancing With The Stars,” and was a special guest at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel, the global Jewish sporting event.

It was a departure for Raisman, who is careful about preserving her energy while she is training.

“There will be in the times in the summer we’ll go to the Cape, and she’ll be like, ‘It’s going to be too exhausting driving to the Cape. It’s too much. I’m just going to stay home,’” said her mother, Lynn, who raised Raisman in a Reform Jewish home in Needham, Massachusetts. “That year off, everything that came her way she could say ‘yes’ to because she wasn’t training.”

According to Lynn Raisman, a mother of four, her eldest child always had this focus and intensity, even when she was a young girl.

“I look back at some of those times when we didn’t do things as a family and she stayed home, like, you were so young, you were such a low level. … She just always was like that, very devoted, very regimented with the training,” she said.

According to her mother, despite all the fun she was having, Aly decided that she would come back very early into her year off.

“Initially, two weeks later [after the Olympics], she was like, ‘Yeah, I’m done,’” Lynn recalled. But then a couple months later, she told her mother, ‘I want to come back.’”

Aly Raisman took it slow.

Though she resumed training in the fall of 2013, just more than a year after her Olympic performances, she didn’t start competing again until this spring, at a friendly meet in Jesolo, Italy, where she won the bronze medal behind two of her U.S. teammates. She won bronze again in the all-around at the U.S. Championships in August.

But these are not the medals she’s after in her comeback. Raisman is chasing the one that got away — a podium position in the Olympics all-around competition, after she was bumped to fourth place in 2012. She thinks about that missing medal “all the time,” she said, and now that Olympic disappointment is motivating her to try to make her second Olympic team. That’s no mean feat in the United States, which has such a deep bench that it could send more than one medal-worthy team to Rio.

Perhaps Raisman simply wanted it too badly in Glasgow. After her disappointing floor exercise, her afternoon went further downhill. There was a botched landing on vault. On the bars, she peeled off on a release move. She appeared to be stunned momentarily as she picked herself up off the mat and remounted the event to finish her routine.

“When you fall at a meet, you just kind of black out,” Raisman said. “It’s the worst feeling. It’s almost traumatizing. I can’t even explain. It’s like the worst feeling in the world.”

The results were even worse. She did not qualify to make the all-around finals.

But in the team finals in Glasgow, with no individual medal opportunities on the line, Raisman redeemed herself. On the beam, her nerves were gone; she moved quickly and aggressively. And on the floor, she managed to contain her power and stayed in bounds, helping the United States to a five-point victory over China and Great Britain. Raisman and her teammates celebrated on the sidelines, hands clasped and raised in victory after Biles’ floor score was posted. It was a similar scene to the one that played out in London, when the five members of the Olympic team waited for the final mark to make their victory official.

For Raisman, the hardest part of her gymnastics comeback seems to be learning how to control the nervous energy.

“I was just a little too hyper,” she said.

Physically, despite no longer being a teen, Raisman says she has been able to recoup every skill she had in London. She’s even added new elements to her repertoire.

“I almost feel like I’m stronger than I was last time,” she said.

Douglas, Raisman take another step forward in comeback bids

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman traded their golden touch for some golden gloves this weekend in Indianapolis.

The Olympic champions showed more grit than grace at this weekend's U.S. women's national championships, fighting off some shaky moments while re-establishing themselves among America's elite.

Raisman, a three-time medalist at the 2012 Olympics, finished third behind winner Simone Biles and Maggie Nichols. Douglas, the all-around champion in London three years ago, was fifth.

''I've got to work on coming out and being more confident and not letting stupid mistakes, like wobbles, knock me out of the competition,'' Douglas said. ''Overall, I'll take it. But I'll learn from the mistakes. I'll take this meet as a stepping stone.''

For now, that will have to suffice.

Nobody expected Douglas or Raisman to be perfect after taking prolonged breaks following their triumphs at the O2 Arena. There is plenty of work ahead as they try to land a spot on the world championships team this fall.

Douglas had similar issues. A few minutes after Raisman's miscue on vault, Douglas spent most of her beam trying to survive bobble after bobble. A small hop on the landing didn't help, either, and the disgusted Douglas settled for a score of 14.2, ending any remote chance of challenging Biles.Raisman shocked everyone Thursday night when the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist on beam lost her balance and hopped off. In Saturday's vault, she took another deduction for a big step on her landing.

But in a sport where youngsters tend to rule, the 19-year-old Douglas and 21-year-old Raisman used their experience, guile and perseverance to come back.

Douglas rebounded from the poor beam performance with a confident, energized floor routine that earned a 14.8. She closed the weekend with a 15.5 in the vault as she slowly works to regain the form that sent her to the top of the Olympic podium.

Raisman followed a similar script. She used a solid routine on the uneven bars to earn a 14.1 and finished the night with a 14.95 on her modified beam routine in her third meet since returning to competition in March.

Douglas and Raisman seem to be back on their feet.''I think the fall (on Thursday) kind of woke me up a bit,'' Raisman said. ''I realized that you have to be aggressive out there. If you let your legs shake and wobble, you'll fall.''

With two months left to train before the world championships in Scotland and nearly a year before the Rio Olympics, where Douglas is hoping to become the first woman to repeat as all-around champ in nearly 50 years, both Olympians have time to get things right.

Both insist they are probably ahead of where they were at this point four years ago when Douglas struggled at nationals.

Raisman, meanwhile, believes she's stronger and in better shape, as she continues to build momentum and confidence.

''I had a 15.7 on the beam in a training camp and a 14.9 (Saturday), which isn't even close,'' Raisman said. ''Hopefully in the next couple of months I can get up to that.''

But with everyone chasing Biles, the real question is whether anyone - including the 2012 Olympic fan favorites - can catch up.

While Raisman and Douglas used this weekend as a gauge of where they are against the world's best gymnast, they believe they'll be closer to their vintage selves when they face the next big sparring session in October.

''I'm going to up my difficulty and be more precise and clean,'' Douglas said. ''I have a plan.''

Aly Raisman Begins Olympic Ascent with Comeback at US National Championships

At the age of 21, Aly Raisman is the elder stateswoman of the United States gymnastic team. Over the weekend, she began her mission to prove that younger is not always better on the beams.

Making her return to competition, Raisman placed third at the U.S. Women's National Championships, finishing behind first-place Simone Biles and second-place Maggie Nichols. Biles has now won three straight national championships, and the 18-year-old will enter the 2016 Rio Games as a prohibitive gold-medal favorite.

Raisman, meanwhile, had a weekend filled with highs and lows. Thursday's nadir of falling off the beam was followed by an otherwise strong weekend, as Raisman looked far better than most would have expected after her long layoff.

"I think the fall (on Thursday) kind of woke me up a bit," Raisman told reporters. "I realized that you have to be aggressive out there. If you let your legs shake and wobble, you'll fall."

Raisman, who took two golds at the 2012 London Games, made her return alongside all-around gold medalist Gabby Douglas. Douglas, who would be the first repeat all-around winner in decades, placed fifth at the national championship. She consistently struggled on the beam, earning a score of only 14.2.

Raisman's floor exercises have long been among the best in the world, so she'll need to continue improving her scores if she qualifies for the Olympics. That's no guarantee. Douglas, Biles and Nichols loom as near-locks, and McKayla Maroney's status is still up in the air. 

"I'm 21 and I'll be 22 in the Olympics year [2016 Rio Games]. If I make the team, I'll be the oldest U.S. gymnast," Raisman told Morty Ain of ESPN.com. "My body is a little bit more achy than it was before, but at the same time I feel like I'm smarter now and able to understand the recovery process. I always joke that I'm 21 going on 50."

There is still time remaining for Raisman to get back into full form, but not as much as it may seem. The Worlds in Scotland are two months away, and we're less than a year away from team trials for the Rio Games.

"I have to learn when I’m actually competing to feel a little more confident," Raisman said, per Team USA's Chros McDougall. "Hopefully that will come with a little more experience being back. Even though I have a lot of experience, I kind of feel like a little junior for the first time out there."

In that way, this weekend proved to be a solid barometer of where Raisman is at among her competition. Third-place finishes in the Olympic stage are admirable, while third place inside her own country leaves something to be desired. Given the fact that her difficulty scores were still relatively high and she has two months to clean up her mistakes, look for Raisman to make a statement at the World Games

Athlete: Viktoria Komova

Aliya Mustafina, a former World all-around champion and challenger to Simone Biles, will miss next month’s World Gymnastics Championships primarily due to a back injury, according to Russian reports quoting Mustafina and the Russian team coach.

Mustafina, 20, won all-around medals at the 2010 World Championships (gold), 2012 Olympics (bronze) and 2013 World Championships (bronze) and was fourth in 2014 while dealing with health problems.

Mustafina has been a stalwart in the Russian program. With her, the Russian team took silver behind the U.S. at the 2012 Olympics and bronze at the 2014 World Championships.

Biles and the U.S. will have clearer paths to gold at Worlds in Glasgow next month not only because Mustafina is out but also because China’s Yao Jinnan has also been sidelined following a reported shoulder surgery.

Yao finished fifth in the all-around at the 2013 and 2014 Worlds, tops among Chinese, and led China to silver behind the U.S. in the team event in 2014.

Then there’s Russian Olympic all-around silver medalist Viktoria Komova, who missed the 2014 Worlds due to health problems and is attempting to come back this year. Komova, though, fell twice on an uneven bars routine at an event in Russia this week.

The biggest threats to Biles becoming the first woman to win three straight World all-around titles next month could be whichever countrywoman joins her in the all-around final (perhaps Olympic champion Gabby Douglas or Aly Raisman) and Romanian Larisa Iordache, who won silver behind Biles at the 2014 World Championships but has dealt with an ankle injury since.

The U.S. team for Worlds is expected to be announced in early October.

Team USA: Why I Love Gymnastics

Sept. 19, 2015 marks the 17th annual National Gymnastics Day. It started in 1999 as a way to promote the sport of gymnastics and its fitness benefits. But ask any Team USA gymnast – artistic, rhythmic or trampoline – what they love about their sport and you’ll find out it’s about more than just a good workout.

With fun perks like flying through the air and flying around the world, see what these gymnasts love about getting to pursue their passion.

Jonathan Horton, two-time Olympic medalist in artistic: “I love gymnastics because of the challenge. It’s the toughest sport in the world, and I get to fly!”

Aly Raisman, three-time Olympic medalist in artistic: “I love gymnastics because it never gets boring, and there is always something to work on. Gymnastics is so challenging which makes it that much more rewarding when you learn a new skill or stick a landing!”

Steven Gluckstein, 2012 Olympian and 2015 Pan American Games silver medalist in trampoline: "I love gymnastics because of the life-long friendships that I've created with gymnasts across the state, nation and even world!"

Kiana Eide, 2015 Pan Am Games gold and silver medalist in rhythmic: “I love gymnastics because it has made me realize and appreciate things much more than I had before. My parents have literally sacrificed everything for me — and my dreams — and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

“I love gymnastics because of all the opportunities it gives me that I will never have another chance to do, like traveling the world, competing at world championships, and qualifying for the Olympics!

“I love gymnastics because of the new life it gave me and how it has shaped the person I am today. Gymnastics is basically life lessons: it teaches you patience, time management, never to give up, keep dreaming, to be brave and confident, trust and teamwork, and love.”

Cody Gesuelli, 2014 Youth Olympian in trampoline: “I love gymnastics because the feeling of exhilaration I get when I hit a great routine is like no other.”

Madison Kocian, 2014 world team gold medalist in artistic: “I love gymnastics because I love the feeling of flying through the air on bars! I love the friendships I've created through gymnastics, and I enjoy representing Team USA!”

Jake Dalton, 2012 Olympian and four-time world medalist in artistic: “I love gymnastics because there is always something new to learn. I never get bored because you can always improve something in your skillset. Gymnastics has also taught me how to set goals and do everything I can to achieve them. The lessons I have learned from gymnastics will benefit me for the rest of my life.”

Eddie Penev, 2014 U.S. floor silver and vault bronze medalist: "I love gymnastics because it has taught me so many incredible life lessons while simply being a lot of fun. Not many people grow up doing all sorts of flips and twists and at the same time become accustomed to hard work and dedication at the highest level."

Brandon Wynn, 2013 world rings bronze medalist: “I love gymnastics because it’s always fun, exciting and new. Each day in the gym is never the same and I learn something different everyday!”

Natalie McGiffert, 2015 Pan Am Games gold and silver medalist in rhythmic: “I love gymnastics because it has allowed me to become the person I am today. It has made me an outgoing, confident, dedicated, detail-oriented and responsible person. It's allowed me to make lifelong friendships with some of the most talented and caring people around. It's united my friends and family with a sense of constant love and support for a common goal. Gymnastics has honestly been the biggest blessing in my life, and I wouldn't be 'me' without it.”

Nia Dennis, 2015 national team in artistic: "I love gymnastics because I enjoy competing and performing in front of people. The rush I get when competing is priceless!”

Tristan Ackerson, 2015 U.S. youth trampoline silver medalist: “I enjoy competing and accomplishing new things every year in the sport that I love.”

Kristen Shaldybin, 2015 Pan Am Games gold and silver medalist in rhythmic: “I love gymnastics because that is what I enjoy doing everyday, it became my lifestyle.”

Alyssa Oh, 2014 world double-mini trampoline champion (13-14): “I love gymnastics because I love to jump, flip, twist, and learn new skills. I love representing my country, meeting new people and the amazing experiences.”

Dakota Earnest, 2012 Olympic alternate in trampoline: “I love gymnastics because it gives me an extraordinary life.”

Jessica Stevens, 2015 U.S. junior women’s champion in trampoline: “I love gymnastics because I love the feeling of flying in the air, as well as meeting people from around the world.”

Carly Townsend, 2015 U.S. junior bronze medalist in trampoline: “I love gymnastics because it makes me feel like I can do anything!”

Simone Biles routs Olympic champions for third straight P&G Championship

INDIANAPOLIS — Martha Karolyi said five words to Simone Biles as she draped yet another medal around the neck of the 4-foot, 8-inch dynamo on Saturday night.

“That’s the Simone I know,” the longtime U.S. national team coordinator said.

One could disagree. Biles’ own assessment was that her performance on the second and final night of the P&G Championships was better than she’s ever known.

“So far, in my life, yes,” Biles said. “Hopefully, it will get better.”

Biles recorded her best-ever scores at a P&G Championships on three of four events to run away with her third straight U.S. all-around title.

“I just keep surprising myself, I guess,” she said.

Biles, the two-time reigning World all-around champion and the prohibitive favorite for Rio Olympic all-around gold, scored 124.1 total points and prevailed by 4.95 over best friend Maggie Nichols to become the first woman in 23 years to three-peat at Nationals. Full results are here.

Watch Biles’ routines: Floor exercise | Balance beam | Vault | Uneven bars

Olympic champions Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas were third and fifth, respectively, in their first Nationals in three years. Raisman said her primary feeling afterward was relief, while Douglas graded herself a B for the night.

Biles, an 18-year-old Texan, improved on her 1.4-point lead from the first night of competition Thursday with her best-ever P&G Championships scores on her first three events — balance beam (15.9), floor exercise (15.85) and vault (16.3).

She finished with a 14.95 on uneven bars (an apparatus she’s said in the past she would like to chainsaw) and bettered her winning margin from 2014 by seven tenths of a point. It marked the second-biggest winning margin in Nationals history, since the new Code of Points scoring system was implemented in 2006. Jordyn Wieber won by 6.15 points in 2011.

The last woman to win three straight U.S. all-around titles was Kim Zmeskal from 1990-92. In 2016, Biles could become the first woman to win four straight since Joan Moore Gnat from 1971-74. Biles has won nine straight overall all-around competitions dating to 2013.

“To be put next to Kim Zmeskal is really an honor, because I look up to her,” Biles said on NBC.

Biles is expected to lead a six-woman U.S. team to the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, in the last week of October. The full team will be announced following a national team camp at the Karolyi ranch in Texas in October.

Nichols, Raisman, fourth-place Bailie Key and Douglas appear headed for Worlds with Biles, but 2012 Olympian Kyla Ross has work to do. 

Ross, who won World all-around silver and bronze medals the last two years, finished 10th on Saturday. That continued a season of struggles.

“It was pretty scary to know that I made that last spot on the [10-woman] national team [from which the Worlds team will be picked] when, usually, I’m one of the top all-arounders,” said Ross, who along with Raisman and Douglas, is trying to become the first woman to make back-to-back Olympic teams since 2000.

Nichols, a Little Canada, Minn., native whose Twitter handle is @MagsGotSwag12, finished third at the 2014 P&G Championships and looked destined for her first Worlds team until dislocating her left kneecap the following week.

“I don’t really think I had a shot of beating [Biles],” Nichols said. “Standing next to her on the podium, that was an honor.”

Raisman improved 1.25 points from her Thursday night score and has finished third, third and fifth in the all-around in her three meets this year coming back from a two-year break from competition.

“I still feel kind of like a little junior [gymnast], like for the first time out there,” said Raisman, the Olympic floor exercise champion who fell off the balance beam Thursday. “It’s still pretty nerve-racking, and I still feel a little shaky.”

Douglas has placed fourth, second and fifth in the same three meets and struggled to stay on the balance beam Saturday but didn’t fall. She will return to her Columbus, Ohio, gym, hoping to increase difficulty on all four of her events before the World Championships.

“I have a plan,” she said, chuckling.

What could Biles possibly have to work on?

“I know it sounds like a baloney answer, but consistency,” said her coach, Aimee Boorman. “That’s what wins.”

The P&G Championships conclude with the final day of men’s competition Sunday (3-4:30 p.m. ET, NBC and NBC Sports Live Extra). Olympian Sam Mikulak leads by 2.35 points, seeking his third straight U.S. all-around title.

First U.S. Olympian born in 2000? It may be a gymnast