Women We Love: Aly Raisman

Aly Raisman is called Grandma by her teammates because at the grand old age of 22, Aly is considered old by gymnastics standards but she was DETERMINED to make it back to the Olympics to avenge her heartbreaking 2012 All Around Final. Raisman tied for third place but in the tie breaking procedure ended up out of the medals.

She was DETERMINED to get back to the Olympics and get on the medal stand.

Look but don’t touch

This is how determined Aly Raisman was to get back to the Olympics and get on the medal stand. Her coach, Mihai Brestyan told Aly that she could look at all of the equipment in the gym but she was not allowed to touch it. Her coach put her through hours of cardio and plyometrics so that he could see just how serious she was about coming back to gymnastics.

In an NBC interview her coach said:

“If you don’t control the body, the frustration is coming very fast,” Brestyan said. “You can’t do this. You can’t do that. Pain here. Pain there. I didn’t want to deal with the mind before I dealt with the body.”

But he knew all along that Aly would persevere because her fear of failure always wins over Giving Up.

Mindset Matters Most

Brutal workouts

I read up on Aly Raisman’s workouts and they are definitely brutal. 7 hours of training per day including endurance drills, conditioning drills, rope climbs, 15 minute treadmill runs, and of course endless running of routines.

These types of workouts demand rest and recovery (especially for an older gymnast like Aly) Her dedication to sleep has won her the nickname of Grandma Aly.

Never Give Up on your dream

She could have given up on her dream dismissing herself as too old to go back but she refused to give up and ended up winning a silver medal! This defied everyone’s expectations except Aly Raisman’s.

“I went in tonight knowing that I was going to get the silver medal because I was going to hit four for four,”

She did an amazing job and held herself together!

Honorable mention for the parents!

Speaking of holding themselves together, Aly Raisman’s parents did a great job of holding themselves together. Aly Raisman’s parents along with Mama Phelps (Michael Phelps mom) have GOT to be the best parental spectators in all of sports. They act exactly as I would if I had a child competing in sports. You’ve got to love them and how supportive they are of Aly’s gymnastic career!

Way to Go Aly!! Good job on not quitting and not giving up on your dream! Hard work pays off!