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Tuesday, December 18, 2012 By Lori D.
 US Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman (left) poses with a Watertown Splash reporter after an interview in Boston. -
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Raisman
as good
as gold
in real life
By LORI D.
Watertown Splash staff reporter
Everything felt so exciting. The lights were flashing, people of all ages piling into Boston's TD Garden trying to find their seats. The smell of popcorn filled the air.
The lights went out and there was a single spotlight in the very center of the room. A man walked out wearing a suit covered from head to toe in the colors of the US flag. He announced that the show was about to start. The whole crowd went wild, screaming and clapping. This was the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions!
Some of the USA’s top gymnasts perform in this national tour. You probably have not seen a gymnastics show like this before. This show combined gymnastics skills with dance to keep the crowd cheering all afternoon. It included synchronized dance, rings, and high bars. The only people that could pull this off were the Olympic and national men’s and women's gymnastics teams.
Joining them in Boston on Nov. 11 was 2008 all-around Olympic champion Nastia Liukin and other past Olympians.
The cast consisted of the Fierce 5 women’s 2012 Olympic gymnastics team -- Aly Raisman, who lives in Needham, Jordyn Wieber (world champion), McKayla Maroney (vault specialist), and Gabby Douglas (2012 Olympics all-around gold medalist). Unfortunately, Kyla Ross was injured during the beginning of the tour and was not able to perform. But another hometown favorite, Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, was there.
This show was upbeat and cheerful. There were many performances involving floor exercise, high bars, balance beams, men’s rings, on the floor dancing, and trampoline. Three members of the Fierce 5 repeated their floor exercises that they did in the Olympics. One of them was Aly’s gold-medal-winning floor exercise!
Everybody went nuts when the emcee announced this. The crowd was so excited to see the hometown hero.
A few days before the show, Aly was at the AT&T store in Downtown Boston for an autograph signing. Teens and adults were waiting in line. It was a good-sized line, but not down the block like you might have expected.
Aly said she had always wanted to go to the Olympics.
“I was inspired by the 1996 women's gymnastics team,” she said before the autograph session began.
It takes so much work and effort to be an Olympian. You have to give up a lot, including your time because of all the training it takes to get there.
“But I didn’t consider giving it up, because everything was worth it,” she said.
One thing she did have to give up was her senior year of high school, and instead she took courses online.
Her life has changed in different ways, but exciting ways, too!
“I’m excited to be performing in a lot of different states in the USA!” she said.
Aly Raisman has brought a piece of London back to Boston with her and now is known as a hometown hero. Aly Raisman may have a gold medal, but she has a personality of gold as well.
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