Decorated Gymnast Turned Broadcaster Aly Raisman Recalls How Gymnastics World Turned on Her: “I Was Called the Grandma”

When asked about what success in gymnastics looks like, undoubtedly, most gymnastics lovers would mention Aly Raisman. As USA Today’s Women of the Year, Aly is the third most decorated gymnast in American history, featuring six Olympic wins under her name. Even though she has had an illustrious career, it was not an easy task to achieve such feats.

Just like other athletes, she too faced a series of obstacles along her way to success. But, unlike others, she faced harsh comments from fellow competitors that left a deep mark on her as she progressed.

Aly Raisman vs. Fellow Athletes

In a recent interview, Aly Raisman and John Roethlisberger sat with the team of Gymnastics Now to share their insights before the 2024 NCAA Gymnastics Nationals. Soon after the interview, Gymnastics Now took it to their official Twitter account and penned, “On a media call with @Aly_Raisman and @jrflipfest ahead of women’s #NCAAgym nationals, and Raisman gave some great personal perspective on gymnasts continuing longer in the sport and doing both NCAA and elite.”

She expressed “I was called the grandma for being 22 years old“, and mentioned that she loves to see how, now, it’s becoming more normal for gymnasts to come back, whether they’re in their freshman year or done with their collegiate career. She added that she loves it and is excited to watch them.

As she started off in the league, many gymnasts making a comeback followed her lead. Now, thanks to her, making a comeback is as normal as starting off a collegiate gymnastics career as a freshman. Not only this, but Aly has also become an inspiration for generations to come, featuring her long list of accolades. However, this is not the first courageous step she has taken in her life.

On the road to empowering survivors

Even though Aly has a lot of things to be proud of, empowering millions of young girls and women worldwide must be at the top of the list. Interestingly, she not only educated them about sexual abuse but also opened up about her own experience of sexual abuse by one of the USA gymnastics doctors.

In addition to this, she also offered them hope by revealing that she, along with the testimony of over 100 other athletes, made sure that he will never be able to abuse anyone else again. Moving on, she also wrote her first book, “From My Head to My Toes,” with the aim to teach kids about child abuse and the importance of consent. Even though the book is published, it is due to be out in April this year.