#fierce five

Late in the afternoon of August 11th, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Alexandra ‘Aly’ Raisman completed the floor routine that would finally bring her to closure on a long awaited dream. As tears cascaded down her cheeks, she didn’t need confirmation of what the watching world already knew: she would be bringing home the Olympic silver medal.

It was the culmination of a curious string of events; what would lead a young gymnast to aspire to and be moved to tears by an Olympic silver medal, as opposed to the gold? Competing against Simone Biles, arguably the world’s greatest female gymnast, was certainly a factor. Aly herself stated at the 2016 P&G National Championships that “when you compete against Simone, she’s so above and beyond everyone else, that the person who comes second is the real winner!”. But for Aly, the emotion ran much deeper than proving that behind Simone Biles, she was the best in the world. It was the final stop on a journey that had started all the way back in 2009, the moment where a dream became a reality.

Years before the Olympic Games were even a glimmer on the horizon, Aly was just a little girl in gymnastics class. Born to Rick Raisman and Lynn Faber in Needham, Massachusetts, on the 25th of May, 1994, Aly’s entry into gymnastics came as simply as her mother signing her up for a ‘Mommy and Me’ class at the age of just two years old.

The year was 1996: a year that, in the gymnastics community, would become famous for the accomplishments of a team known as the Magnificent Seven. On July 23rd, Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps, and Kerri Strug battled their way to the United States of America’s first ever team gold medal in major international competition. They became household names, and a team that many of Aly’s generation of gymnasts would go on to cite as their biggest inspiration. Certainly they were for Aly, who watched her mother’s recording of the team final until the tape had almost worn out.

Aly started her life in gymnastics at a gym called Exxcel, but just a few years later, one of her coaches recommended a move to Brestyan’s American Gymnastics Club. Possibly, he saw potential in Aly, who says herself that she was never the most naturally gifted athlete. However, one of Aly’s best traits has always been her work ethic: once she sets her mind on something, she works tirelessly until she achieves it. Her coach at Exxcel had seemingly sensed that determination in his young athlete throughout the years. And maybe, guided by Romanian expatriate, Mihai Brestyan, Aly’s work ethic would grow into something incredible. During this period, Romanian gymnastics was in its heyday. Romanian coaches carried a certain reputation with them to whichever corner of the globe they travelled. While never having a claim to any of gymnastics’ superstars, American or Romanian, Mihai Brestyan was a man with a plan, and when Aly entered into his tutelage, he put that plan into action.

It took years of training before, in 2009, Aly entered into the world of elite gymnastics. For the first time, the gymnastics community began to mull over the possibility of Aly’s world-class potential. What was odd about her entry to elite was how late in her life it came. At 15 years old, Aly would be eligible for senior competition at events like the World Championships and Olympic Games just the following year, when she would turn 16. By the time Aly qualified to elite, her coach had already produced an Olympian: Alicia Sacramone. Alicia had been part of the silver-medal-winning American team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and also had a handful of World Championship medals to her name.

As a junior elite in 2009, and then as a first year senior in 2010, Aly wasn’t considered a star. Compared to some of her compatriots, like Alicia and Rebecca Bross, her gymnastics was considered just okay. She wasn’t the most flexible, the most artistic, or the prettiest gymnast to watch. Her technique was not exactly the best, and her execution during her skills could often be questionable. In short, she wasn’t really a standout. But what she came to be known for, and still is known for today, is her consistency. No matter the meet, no matter the event, Aly could always be counted on to deliver a solid routine for the United States. It was that consistency that helped the American team to a world silver medal in 2010.

Throughout the 18 months that followed her first World Championships, Aly solidified herself as not only an extremely consistent and reliable gymnast, but as a leader of the US women’s national team. Nowhere did she prove herself more than during the 2011 World Championships. Challenged by the last-minute injury of Alicia Sacramone, the team captain, Aly was left as the only remaining member with Worlds experience. Exuding all the confidence of a natural leader, Aly stepped up to the plate. What transpired was the beginning of a legacy when she led her young and inexperienced team to the World gold medal.

 The 2012 London Olympic Games

On the back of her success in Tokyo, which also included a World bronze medal on the floor exercise, Aly’s prospects for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London became clearer. A second place finish at the American Cup in March solidified her status as a capable all-arounder for the US team. The result further impressed national team coordinator, Marta Karolyi. All throughout the selection process, which is composed of the US Classic, the US National Championships, and the Olympic Trials, Aly remained a strong and steady competitor. Nationals saw her place third in the all-around, as well as pick up national titles on the balance beam and the floor exercise. She followed that up with a third-place finish at the Olympic Trials, behind Gabrielle “Gabby” Douglas and Jordyn Wieber. On July 1st, 2012, at the conclusion of Trials, Aly was named to the women’s team for the Olympic Games. Alongside Gabrielle Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, and Jordyn Wieber, she was a member of the youngest team the US had sent to the Olympics since the minimum age was raised to 16, following the 1996 Games. The pressure was mounting, but all five girls were up for the challenge.

Just 28 days later, the newly named ‘Fierce Five’ marched into the North Greenwich Arena in London to take part in the first round of Olympic competition: qualifications. The rules of the qualification round seemed simple enough; four gymnasts per team competed on each of the four apparatus, and the best three scores counted towards the team totals. Individually, the gymnasts’ scores would qualify them into the all-around and event finals.

In women’s gymnastics, the all-around score is the accumulation of all four apparatus scores; in everyday terms, it is the best of the best. Or, it was, until a FIG ruling in 2001 limited how many gymnasts from each country could qualify to the all-around final. After a Romanian sweep of the podium at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the limit was reduced from three to just two gymnasts per country.

After her success in Tokyo, which saw her become the World all-around champion, talk had been drummed up all year of Jordyn Wieber being a threat for the Olympic all-around gold. The American media had heavily focused on Jordyn being the lead all-arounder for the USA, with Gabby Douglas just behind her. At that point, no-one was really giving Aly any sort of look-in.

What happened in qualifications, therefore, was surprising to all. All it took were a few shaky connections on beam for Jordyn to lose some of the value from her routine’s difficulty score. Favoured to challenge for the gold, Jordyn ended her qualifications in fourth place, with Aly ahead of her in second as the highest-placed American, and Gabby between them in third. Due to the two per country rule, for the first time in gymnastics history, the reigning World all-around champion would not advance through to the final. Publicly defeated, Jordyn was reduced to tears. As her one of her best friends, Aly was understandably conflicted: should she be happy to have made the final, or sad for her friend missing out? But she couldn’t dwell on it, for the Games had only just begun.

Two days following, the American team marched into the North Greenwich Arena as if the surprises of qualifications had never occurred. Led by Aly, the Fierce Five dazzled their way through 12 stunning routines. As was clear would happen after their runaway lead in the first rotation, they ended up making history. A five-point victory led them to become the first US team to win Olympic gold since the Magnificent Seven, and only the second ever to do so. For Aly, it was a moment of uninhibited emotion, for the last sixteen years of her life had finally culminated in her very own Olympic dream.

After the gold medal victory in the team competition on Tuesday evening, Thursday evening meant it was time for Aly and Gabby to tackle a new battle: the all-around final.

Even as the uproar over Jordyn not making the final continued to swirl in online forums, Aly and Gabby had a job to do. With game faces to rival even the best poker players, the two girls walked out into the arena, clad in metallic pink and ready to fight to the bitter end.

Aly’s nerves of steel stayed in check as she worked her way seemingly calmly through her competition. She put her vault, the hardest being performed in the day’s competition, to her feet with only a small hop. From there, the top group moved to the uneven bars. Bars never were, and never would be, Aly’s strong point. Just the previous year in Tokyo, during the all-around final, she had had a tussle with the apparatus that one could assume she’d rather forget about. But on this day in London, she stayed on, delivering a routine that seemed to be enough for her goal of a medal.

In the third rotation, however, the top group were faced with the nerviest apparatus in all of women’s gymnastics: the balance beam. The beam has famously been the undoing of many a great gymnast, and in London, it was no different.

Performing last, Aly surely didn’t watch the competitors before her, preferring to keep her head down and her mind focused. Even so, the rise and fall of the noise from the audience told her the story as it unfolded. Once an incredibly talented young athlete, later plagued by injury, Russia’s Aliya Mustafina had fallen from the beam on a skill that most thought she should have been able to save. With a fall deducting an entire point from one’s routine, it seemed the battle for the podium had now leveled from four, to just three; Gabby, Aly, and the second Russian, Viktoria Komova.

At the end of the rotation, Aly mounted the beam as the final competitor. She carried an air of confidence about her in the way she attacked the apparatus, punching out each skill with the surefootedness of a mountain goat. Just moments later, her nerves of steel melted under the pressure. Maybe it was the audience, maybe it was the weight of the competition, maybe it was the Olympic rings plastered in every direction the eye could see… whatever it was, it sent Aly reeling. On a front pike which, at that level, should be a simple skill, her foot slipped. As her weight went entirely to the side amidst gasps from the audience, Aly threw her hands down to the beam to support herself. The rest of the routine was steady, if not a little wobbly, but the damage had been done. While video replay would later show her hands never actually touched the suede top of the apparatus, the judges had scored what they thought they saw. Her mistake was not as costly as Mustafina’s fall, but, perhaps to Aly, it was.

The final rotation brought the top competitors to the floor exercise. As the second highest qualifier, Aly was to be second to last. She waited somewhat anxiously through the routines from the lower qualified top six. The routines were good, but after performances from Aly’s teammate Gabby, and Mustafina, it was clar Aliya was back in the hunt for a medal. The podium was now certainly a fight between the two Americans and the two Russians.

After Gabby’s score was in, Aly mounted the podium and took to the floor. As the highest qualifier to the floor event final, and the US national champion, she was expected to bring in a great routine to make a push for the bronze medal. Over the following 90 seconds, Aly flipped and soared her way to the conclusion of what truly was a confident and masterful exercise. The wait for her score was somewhat tense. While Aly wanted to reach for her absolute best in medal potential, she mostly wanted to prove that she was more than capable of being internationally competitive in the all-around.

But moments later, the final hit a snag. Aly’s score was 15.133; exactly the score she had needed to equal, but not best, the total score of Russia’s Aliya Mustafina.

The two were tied. The arena was still abuzz with activity, for there were still at least two gymnasts left to compete. Excited chatter filtered down from the watching crowd as Aly looked up at the scoreboard. It was as if she already knew what was going to happen: ties are not awarded in Olympic gymnastics. The technical committee would have to break the tie, in a manner that is controversial at best amongst the gymnastics community. For both Aly and Aliya, the lowest of the four scores would be dropped. For Aliya, this was beam, and for Aly, it was bars.

By totaling the remaining three scores, Aliya came out on top, meaning that Aly was leaving the final with a score that equaled third, but no bronze medal to show for it. At first, Aly seemed to brush the disappointment away. She left the Olympics with two more medals – a gold in the floor exercise, and a bronze on beam, which she ironically won through a second tiebreak with Romania’s Catalina Ponor. But even after her success in London, it became clear over time that the sting of the all-around had left Aly feeling more than just a little jilted.

  The Comeback for Rio 2016

Aly’s return to gymnastics in late 2014 was doubted by many. Not since 2000 had an American gymnast made a second Olympic team. Even Mihai Brestyan didn’t immediately see the sincerity in her return to the sport. His idea was simple; he left Aly alone in the corner of the gym without any instructions, and waited to see what she what do. What Aly did was push herself to condition, rebuilding and strengthening the muscle she had lost since the London Olympics. Once Mihai was satisfied that she was serious about returning, he started her back in the elite program at his gym.

After a year of hard training, Aly’s comeback plans came to fruition when she was named to the team for the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow. As the first step in team qualification to the Olympics, the competition was more important than ever.

As a consistent and reliable all-arounder, Aly was selected to compete all-around in qualifications over national silver medalist, Maggie Nichols. This decision would later cause friction in the gymnastics community; Aly made sizeable mistakes on every event in qualifications, preventing her from advancing to any of the individual finals. Had Maggie competed on bars in the qualification instead of Aly, she likely would have advanced to the final over reigning Olympic Champion, Gabby Douglas.

Like the true competitor she was, Aly shook off the disappointment of the qualification round to help the team win gold for the third time running, this time without the mistakes. With Team USA now directly qualified to the 2016 Olympic Games, it was time for Aly to knuckle down in the gym and iron out the kinks that had emerged in Glasgow.

But the turnaround didn’t come until later in the 2016 season. Opening her season at the City of Jesolo Trophy, a small meet in Italy, Aly again had issues in the competition. Most notably, she sat her vault down, which encouraged fans of the sport to beg for her to downgrade the skill. However, like the steely competitor she is, she soldiered on.

She again fell at the US Classic early in the summer, counting a fall on bars in the first rotation. But with Simone Biles only competing two events, Aly was able to clamber back to win the all-around competition. By the time Nationals rolled around towards the end of June, Aly had her competitive head on straight and was finally hitting all her routines. Her renewed consistency later earned her a spot on the Olympic team headed to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, alongside Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Lauren “Laurie” Hernandez, and Madison Kocian. Alongside Gabby Douglas, Aly made history as one of the first American gymnasts to make a repeat Olympic team in 16 years.

The 2016 Rio Olympic Games

In Rio, Aly again led her team to greater than imaginable heights. As the final team to be sent to the Olympic Games by Marta Karolyi before her retirement, they later named themselves the Final Five. They qualified to the team final a clear 10 points ahead of their closest competitor, China, the gymnastics equivalent of completing a swimming race a full lap ahead of the second place finisher. Even calmer and more confident than the Fierce Five had been in London, the five young ladies entered the team final clad in leotards calling back to the historic achievements of the Magnificent Seven. In an incredible victory, they again netted team gold, by a staggering 8 points.

Aly entered the all-around final as an American record holder; she was one of only two American gymnasts to ever win three Olympic gold medals, the other being her own teammate, Gabby Douglas. Throughout the final, Aly seemed much more relaxed than she had been in 2012. Working cleanly through her routines, she smiled and laughed her way through the competition with Simone at her side.

Coming in to floor, with gold all but locked up for Simone, silver was Aly’s to lose. Aliya Mustafina, the gymnast who had won the tiebreak in 2012, was holding the lead when Aly stepped up to the podium. But the margin Aly needed was only just under 14 points – well within her capabilities if she performed at her usual standard. So she struck a confident pose, smiling as her music filled the arena and her parents clutched at each other out of nerves up in the stands.

It was just seconds after her feet touched the mat on her final tumbling pass that Aly was overwhelmed with emotion. Her music ended to rapturous applause from the Brazilian crowd that had so come to love the American girls. Through tears, she saluted the judges, before managing to wave to the watching audience even as she battled for her own composure. Somewhere up in the stands, her family was also in tears, as they embraced out of joy and relief. They knew firsthand how hard Aly’s journey back to the Olympics had been, and to see it come to fruition was an incredible experience for them all.

Just a few minutes later, the confirmation of Aly’s dream was clear to all: she scored 15.433, putting her easily into the top spot above Aliya Mustafina, with only Simone Biles left to go. No matter how Simone’s floor routine went, Aly had finally secured an international all-around medal - at the Olympics, nonetheless! The smile on her face proved that no matter the colour of that medal, it was more than enough.

After an electrifying routine that seemed to defy the laws of physics, Simone also completed her competition, and her own quest to become the colloquially-known “queen” of gymnastics. It felt like a long wait down on the floor, but sure enough, the final standings confirmed everyone’s predictions: Simone Biles was the Olympic all-around champion, and Aly, beaming from ear to ear, would take the silver medal.

That same smile never left Aly’s face throughout the victory ceremony just a short while later. When her name was announced as the winner of the silver medal, she received an enthusiastic cheer from the surrounding crowd. Just moments later, her hard-earned prize hung from a bright green ribbon around her neck. Lifting it to her lips, she kissed the silver disc with all the appreciation of an athlete who truly never gave up.

Aly finished the Rio Olympic Games with the team gold, all-around and floor exercise silver medals under her belt, making her the second most decorated American Olympic gymnast with six medals overall. She says that a second comeback for the Tokyo Olympics is still a possibility for her, but right now, she’s happy enjoying her downtime from the sport. In recent months, Aly has become an outspoken advocate for the victims of the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal, as well as furthering her reach into empowering young girls and promoting body positivity. Whether she’s clad in a leotard and dancing her way around the floor to traditional folk music, or using her platform to make a difference, there’s no doubt that she’s an inspiration to many.