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Aly Raisman

Alexandra Rose Raisman Nicknamed, Aly, was the team captain of the 2012 Olympic Gymnastics team. She was one of five American Gymnasts who won the team gold medal. She also won an individual gold medal on floor and an individ-ual bronze medal on balance beam. She was born on May 25, 1994 in Needham, Massachusetts. She trained with Mihai and Silvia Brestyan at Brestyan’s Ameri-can Gymnastics. She started gymnastics at the age of 2 at Exxcel Gymnastics and Climbing. She moved to Breystan when she was a level 8 gymnast. following her

success and the Olmpics she is now engaging in activities outside the gym.

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Aly Raisman was announced as an official GK Champion in April 2012. She joined Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson under that title. Raisman has

now designed three leotards to go into her Sig-nature Collection. “I’m really excited to have my

own Signature Collection with GK, I have always loved fashion, so this is a dream come true. I am

looking forward to collaborating with GK on more designs in the future and I can’t wait to wear these

leotards.” Raisman said in an interview. Young gymnasts have already been spotted wearing her

collection as Raisman recently posted a picture on Instagram of two Gymnasts in one of the three

leotards she designed with GK.

Aly Raisman’s gym is getting some love because of her Olympic success. The gym is increasing

enrollment so much that the owners, Mihai and Silvia Brestyan, are wondering how they can keep everything under one roof. There gym, Brestyan’s

American Gymnastics, has doubled in enrollment to 900 gymnasts since Raisman’s return. An issue

that the gym is come upon is having enough quali-fied coaches to teach the rapidly growing program.

“You need to have good instructors to make sure that everyone is doing their job.” Brestyan said to

John Powers of the Boston Globe. The Brestyan Gym has produced Raisman, Alicia Sacramone and 30 other gymnasts who have gone to compete at the college level. The program has been successful which leads to Martha Karolyi stating “We have to think

about the next generation,” who could be coming from The Brestyan’s American Gym-nastics.

Designing Leotards

Impacting Her Gym

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Courtesy of John Cheng

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Aly Rasman is just like any other girl, she loves jewl-ery. She has the privilege of being a PANDORA endorser. Raisman is being featured in the PAN-DORA 2013 print campaign and making appear-ances at PANDORA stores during and after the Kellogg’s Tour of Champions. “When we think about PANDORA, we instantly begin to think about the women who inspire and encourage us, It goes without saying that this past summer, Aly was among the many women who moved us all, men and women, and inspired others to celebrate the qualities that make us unique,” Angel Ilagan, Vice President of Marketing said. Raisman is also aiding in their growing social media efforts.

Aly Raisman made it well known that she is Jew-ish when she performed her floor routine to Hava Nagila. Hava Nagila is a traditional Jewish song that means ‘Let Us Rejoice.’ “It was so exciting to perform it. It gave me such an adrenaline rush, and it was so exciting to be able to represent my Jewish heritage,” Raisman said. When she was given her gold medal she asked the audience for a moment of silence in remembrance of the 11 Israeli Olympi-ans who were murdered at the 1972 Olympics. She captured the hearts of many with the request. After

returning back, Raisman spoke at the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center. Hundreds of people rushed to buy the tickets to see her speak because “being Jewish and having ac-complished that at the Olympics, it means more than words can describe. It means so much to me.”

PANDORA Endorser

Proud Of Her Religion

Courtesy of John Cheng

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Courtesy of John Cheng

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Aly Raisman is helping her hometown with fundraiser efforts. Her hometown of Needham has an annual event, “A Chair to Remember,” provides

funds for the local high school scholarships and town beautification projects. The town spends all summer displaying Adirondack chairs that have

been creatively designed throughout the town. Those chairs are then auctioned off. An article

on boston.com stated that the auction went gold. Raisman had a chair designed for her which she

signed.

Aly Raisman is in the Kellogg’s Tour of Cham-pions alongside her fellow Fab Five members and other Olympian Gymnasts. They are making a 40

stop tour around the country. Aly Raisman got in-jured at the second stop of the tour. In California,

she fell off the bars right after McKayla Maroney fell on the same bars and injured her knee. Rais-

man fell on her stomach and was able to walk away on her own but didn’t return for the finale. She has been in the shows that followed and is doing well.

Kellogg’s Tour Of Champions

Signing A Chair

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