Remember Aly?

Aly Raisman was the 2012 Olympic champion on floor, and also won the team gold with The Fierce Five.

Comeback Watch (most recent info is first)

July 25, 2015: Raisman competes in the 2015 US Classic. She earned fifth all-around, qualifying to the 2015 US nationals. (Get results, highlights and video here.)

Mar. 29, 2015: Raisman follows up her bronze in the all-around at Jesolo Trophy with a bronze on floor.

Results and video here.

Mar. 28, 2015: Raisman competes at the Jesolo Trophy in the all-around and team finals, winning the all-around bronze, and placing sixth on beam and second on floor. She advanced to the floor finals held on Mar. 29. Results: Team Final | All-Around Final | Event Qualifications

March 2015: Raisman is named to the US team for the Jesolo Cup and will compete on Mar. 28 and 29th, alongside Olympic teammates Gabby Douglas and Kyla Ross, and two-time world all-around champ Simone Biles. More here.

Feb. 2015: USA Gymnastics shows training clips of Raisman at a January national team training camp. She looks close to competition-ready, and says she's hoping to be named to US team for the Jesolo Cup competition at the end of March.

Nov. 2014: USA Gymnastics announces that Raisman is back on the national team following her first national team training camp. More info.

April 2014: Raisman talks in-depth about why she's returning to training, in a piece for espnW. Key quotes: I went into the gym and sat down with my coach, Mihai Brestyan. I told him I'd like to try to come back, that Rio in 2016 was my goal. "Are you sure you really want to do this?" he asked. "I'm 100 percent with you -- as long as you are really doing this. But I don't want to waste my time." ... It took me a year to say yes, but I always knew, very deep down, that that was what my answer would be.

April 2014: Raisman announces that she will attend her first national team training camp in October after worlds, and that she isn't aiming to compete this year. Key quote: [U.S. National Team Coordinator] Martha [Karolyi] and Mihai and Silvia Brestyan, my coaches, they all decided just to wait and to take it slow and to not rush,” Raisman said at the Best of U.S. Awards on Wednesday. “My goals are more 2015 and 2016." More info, from NBCOlympics.com.

Sept. 2013: Raisman tells The Boston Globe about her life since London, and talks about her plans to be back in the gym. Key quotes: Having done it, Raisman has no illusions about what it would take again: hundreds of hours in the gym with Brestyan pushing her. So she has been making the most of her sabbatical.

“My coaches told me, take the year to have fun,” she said. “Do whatever you want to do because once you come back, that’s it.”

 

Can She Do It?

We say yes -- she can make it back to competition, and possibly even to the highest level again.

The opportunities. There is still currently a need for another strong floor worker on the US team, and Raisman fits that bill quite well. At the 2014 worlds, Kyla Ross competed in team finals and earned a 13.966, and the US squad would love to have a score that's higher in upcoming competitions. It should be noted however, that this was an especially weak field overall at worlds, and that the US team was beset by injury after injury. Still, Raisman's floor score could add a lot to the US team lineup, and she's a solid beam worker and vaulter as well. Plus, she's well known for bringing invaluable leadership qualities to the team, and her experience as an Olympian and worlds veteran would be helpful as well.

The challenges. Taking any time off from gymnastics always makes it a challenge to return to the sport, and there is a younger crop of gymnasts primed to enter the senior ranks in the next two years before Rio. Currently, Mykayla Skinner is often competing as a vault and floor specialist for the USA, so many would consider her and Raisman to be direct competitors for a spot in a US team lineup. Most would consider Raisman at her prime to be a stronger gymnast, but, of course, that relies on Raisman coming back to the skill level she had reached at the 2012 Olympics.

 

Key Gymnastics Competition Dates:

2015:
July 10–26, 2015: Pan American Games
Aug. 13-16, 2015: US nationals (called P&G Championships)
Oct. 23-Nov. 1, 2015: 2015 World Championships (Glasgow, Scotland, UK)

2016:
Aug. 5-21, 2016: Rio de Janeiro Olympics
 

More:

Aly Raisman bio
Aly Raisman photo gallery
The latest on Gabby Douglas' comeback

 

 

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