Alexandra Rose "Aly" Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is an American artistic gymnast. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was captain of the gold medal-winning US women's gymnastics team, and individually won a gold medal on the floor and a bronze medal on the balance beam. She was also on the US teams that won a silver medal at the 2010 World Championships, and a gold medal at the 2011 World Championships. In 2013, she appeared on Dancing with the Stars.Raisman was born on May 25, 1994, in Needham, Massachusetts to Lynn (née Faber) and Rick Raisman. Raisman is Jewish. Her mother is a former high school gymnast. She has three younger siblings, Brett, Chloe, and Madison. Raisman began gymnastics at a very young age. She said, "I got involved when I was two years old when my mom put me in Mommy and Me classes, I always had a lot of energy so it was the perfect fit! I have always loved it ever since!" Raisman trained at Exxcel Gymnastics and Climbing through Level 8, when she moved to Brestyan's American Gymnastics Club under coaches Mihai and Silvia Brestyan.
She trains alongside Alicia Sacramone, of whom Raisman said, "She's kind of like my older sister. I can ask her about anything because I know that she's been through it all. She knows what it takes to get there, so watching her work so hard in the gym everyday is really helpful. I love watching her because she's such a beautiful gymnast, she's so powerful, and has the whole package." Raisman graduated from Needham High School in 2012. Raisman attended high school daily, along with training until the end of her junior year. She completed her senior year via online classes, allowing her to focus on training for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Raisman was committed to attend the University of Florida for gymnastics, but instead pursued a professional career.
Raisman and Gabby Douglas made their comeback to competition at the City of Jesolo Trophy in late March. There, Raisman received the gold medal with the U.S. team and won individual bronze medals in the all-around with a score of 59.100 and the floor exercise with a score of 14.850 (incurring a 0.3 deduction for going out of bounds during floor exercise event finals). In June, Raisman was named to the board of the Olympic bid committee, Boston 2024. She later posed for ESPN The Magazine''s Body Issue.
Dancing with the Stars - Raisman was a contestant on season 16 of Dancing With the Stars and finished in fourth place with two-time champion Mark Ballas. Raisman was credited as "Alexandra Raisman" during the competition. She also made an appearance during the previous season of DWTS, with the rest of the Fierce Five, when she appeared during a Freestyle routine with fellow Olympic gold medal winner Shawn Johnson and her partner that season, Derek Hough.
