Aly Raisman has a new role on the gymnastics team! The 2012 and 2016 Olympian may be only 22, but compared to the rest of the members of her squad, where the youngest gymnast, Laurie Hernandez, is only 16, she has become the mama and grandma of the group.
“Simone [Biles] likes to call me grandma and Laurie calls me mama sometimes,” Raisman explained before being named to the team on Sunday, July 10. “Everyone always jokes because I’m the oldest.”
The grandma nickname isn’t just about her age, though.
“Everyone just says I’m the grandma because I like to sleep a lot,” explains the former Dancing With the Stars competitor, who tries to get eight to nine hours a night. “I nap during the day, and then all of my friends are going out on Saturday night and I’m so happy with a cup of tea in bed at like 7:30. I just love it. I think I’m always so tired from training. I’m sure when I finish gymnastics I’ll be able to go out and have fun, but now I can’t even stay up past 10:30.”
Bubbly Biles jokingly took issue with Raisman’s preferred noise levels.
“Aly says we’re so loud, but she’s just a little grandma,” the 19-year-old three-time world champion told Us. “She goes to bed at, like, 8:30, and she’s like, ‘Simone, quiet down!’ And I’m like, ‘Aly, it’s 8:30! Wake up!’”
The women’s team also includes Madison Kocian and 2012 Olympian Gabby Douglas. With two girls from 2012 on the team, Raisman says this team wants what she and Douglas achieved in London.
“It’s hard to compare just because it’s a different group of girls,” says the Feat by Aly sock designer. “I’d say that we’re the same in the sense that we all motivate each other and push each other to the next level, and we all kind of feed off each other’s energy. When we have a good workout, we’re all just so excited and we all have the same goal, obviously. We all want to win that team gold medal – that’s the priority for us.”
The Rio Olympics begin August 5 and will be streamed live on NBCOlympics.com and on the NBC Sports app. The Rio Paralympics begin September 7 and will be streamed live on TeamUSA.org.
