photo courtesy of Reuters/Dylan Martinez

At just 24 years old, Aly Raisman has garnered a dynamic range of profound achievements that most people could not dream of achieving in a lifetime.

Starting gymnastics at the age of two, Raisman attributed her early love for the sport to the members of the 1996 Olympic women’s gymnastic team. Training at Exxcel Gymnastics and Climbing, Raisman quickly proved her aptitude in the sport.

She attended both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and London and was team captain for both – a role which she says comes naturally to her as the oldest among her two siblings.

Raisman is among the most decorated American gymnasts. At the 2012 Olympic Games, she won two gold medals – one for her floor routine and one for the U.S. team performance – and a bronze medal on the beam apparatus. At the 2016 Rio Games, Raisman won a gold medal for the U.S. team performance and two silver medals – one for her all-around performance and another for her floor exercise – coming second to U.S. teammate Simone Biles for both categories. Raisman was also a member of the U.S. team during their first-place wins at the gymnastics World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 2011 and 2015.

Raisman passionately embraces her Jewish identity and has infused her commitment to Judaism into her sport. At the 2012 Olympics, Raisman requested a moment of silence for the 11 Israeli Olympians killed and held captive during the 1972 Olympic Games. Performing to the Jewish folk song “Hava Nagila,” she also dedicated her gold medal-winning floor routine to the victims.

Though she’s known primarily for her gymnastics performance, Raisman’s contributions to the sport transcend mere athletic skill. In the face of the sport’s arguably most intense scandal, the sexual assault trial against the renowned women’s gymnastic doctor Larry Nassar, Raisman took a fierce and unapologetic stance against what she termed the “cancer” that had plagued the sport.

At his hearing, Raisman – among several other gymnasts abused by Nassar – delivered a powerful speech to Nassar, in which she vowed to “not rest until every last trace of [Nassar’s] influence on this sport has been destroyed.”

Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman gives her victim impact statement Jan. 19, 2018, in Lansing, Michigan, during the fourth day of sentencing for former sports doctor Larry Nassar. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Well after this hearing, Raisman has continued her impassioned quest against this “cancer,” most notable by delivering strong critiques to United States of America Gymnastics (USAG), the governing body for gymnastics in the U.S., which she believes is continuously failing to adequately make reparations for Nassar’s devastating impact on several American gymnasts.

“Clearly this is not a ‘new’ USAG. Same corrupt decisions. Perhaps it’s because true accountability is less likely if authority is placed in the hands of someone similarly motivated to avoid it,” Raisman said in a tweet after USAG hired new interim president Mary Bono, who had been a key figure in the cover-up of Nassar’s crimes.

Clearly this is not a “new” USAG. Same corrupt decisions. Perhaps it’s because true accountability is less likely if authority is placed in the hands of someone similarly motivated to avoid it ….

— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) October 15, 2018

Beyond her exemplary effort to take action against injustice within the sport, Raisman has been involved with Aerie’s lingerie campaigns, which use unedited photos with models of various shapes and sizes to embolden self-confidence among women.

Aly Raisman Partners With American Eagle’s Aerie to Honor Abuse Survivors | Teen Vogue

“I don’t want any young athlete to ever walk into a store and feel that their body type isn’t feminine. No matter what you look like, your body is unique,” Raisman said while speaking about the struggles she faced as young, muscular athlete shopping for clothing where her body type wasn’t well-represented.

Raisman is not just extremely talented in gymnastics – she has used the fame garnered from her skills in this sport to speak out on issues of great importance and to embolden the young women who look up to her, making her not only a great athlete but a great role model as well.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Simone Biles just become the most decorated American gymnast ever. Let that sink in. Not most decorated woman, not most decorated African-American – most decorated American, ever.

At the Gymnastic World Championships, held in Doha, Qatar Oct. 25-Nov. 3, Biles secured her fourth all-around gold medal, along with five more medals and became the first American to medal in all events.

In addition to breaking U.S. records, Biles also now holds more all-around championships at Worlds than any other female gymnast ever.

Biles rose to fame after the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. She flipped and flew her way to five medals at the game – four of them gold. She tied with fellow American swimmer Katie Ledecky as the most decorated woman at the summer games.

By now Biles is used to doing things no one else has done before. In 2015, her gymnastic skills were already known worldwide. She became America’s most decorated female gymnast by winning 14 medals and 10 World Championships after only competing on the international level three times.

She became America’s shining star when, at only 19, she easily crushed the competition at the 2016 Olympics and lead the U.S. women to a team gold. She also debuted her now signature double layout half twist with blind landing – a move now deemed “‘the Biles.”

The Biles is so difficult even most male gymnasts do not dare attempt it in competition.

Biles returned to international competition Oct. 25. Despite her stellar record and world-renowned skills, it seemed Biles was not going to be able to continue her gold streak.

After the last Olympics, Biles took two years off from the competition. Many doubted she would return to her level of success. She has also had an emotional year, revealing in January that she was one of former team doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse victims.

Just 24 hours before this year’s World Championships, Biles revealed on social media that she had been rushed to the emergency room and diagnosed with a kidney stone. She was told by doctors that the stone was too large to pass. Because of anti-doping regulations, Biles could not take any medications for her pain.

Biles, however, proved herself a champion when she chose to power through the pain and compete at the World Championships.

It was not Biles’ best. She fell on vault and balance beam and stepped out of bounds on her floor routine. These mistakes were uncharacteristic of Biles, and she took to Twitter to apologize for her performance to fans.

“Didn’t mean to give everyone a heart attack. I apologize. I won’t do that again,” said Biles.

didn’t mean to give everyone a heart attack. I apologize. ? I won’t do that again

— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) November 1, 2018

Despite numerous mistakes, Biles still managed to secure six medals, including all-around gold.

The results should not surprise anyone in the gymnastics world. It has long been a running joke that Biles could fall two or three times and still beat everyone else because of her huge margins of victory. She proved them right.

Biles’ success comes from her difficulty scores, higher than any other woman by far. Biles typically nails tricks no one else, including most of the men, will ever try in competition. That means that even when Biles falls off the beam or fumbles her landing off the vault, she will still score higher than any other gymnast.

And she did – winning the all-around by a margin of 1.693 points ahead of Japan’s Mai Murakami. The only time anyone scored a bigger margin of victory was Biles in the 2016 Olympics, with a 2.1 lead.

After the competition, Biles was open about her frustrations.  

“I’m really happy to be done. (I’m) proud of my performance here. I wish some of them would have been better, but I’m really happy with the outcome,” Biles stated.

Biles already showed that will that she was the best in the 2016 Summer Olympics. Last week, she showed the world she is still the best – and that she’s won’t be done with gymnastics anytime soon.

Yes, she made mistakes she never has before in competition. However, her routines were somehow even more difficult than ones fans saw her perform in Rio. Biles also soared to new heights in her uneven bars and vault, winning a medal in these events for the first time. This most likely is thanks to her new coach Laurent Landi who trained Madison Kocian for the Games in Rio

After the 2018 World Championship, one thing is certain – Biles is back. With only two years until the next Summer Olympics, Biles is sure to be a prominent figure for the U.S. team in the future. Even with two years off from training and a kidney stone, she was still the best overall gymnast in the world. With more training and some medical treatment, she can only get better in Tokyo in the 2020 Olympic Games.