Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Watch Aly Raisman Explain What Goes Into an Olympic Gymnastics Routine

Aly Raisman is a Gold medal-winning Olympic gymnast, but she’s not sitting back on her laurels just yet.

Raisman broke down all the components of her upcoming routine for the Rio Olympics in a Wall Street Journal video, giving us just a glimpse at the staggering amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. The routine includes a roundoff, one-and-a-half stepout into a roundoff, back handspring, then an Arabian double front into a punch layout. Say that three times fast!

The 22 year old first won the hearts of American Jews when she performed her floor routine to the tune of “Hava Nagilah” during the 2012 London Olympics. Incidentally, it was during the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre, at the same time that the International Olympic Committee was heavily criticized for not honoring the slain Israeli athletes with a moment of silence.

Speaking with the Forward at the time, Raisman said she picked the song because “I really liked the music and wanted to get something people could clap to and relate to.” We can’t wait to see what surprises she has in store for us in Rio.

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.