Gymnast Aly Raisman is coming off a dream Olympics.
“It’s hard to process it, it still doesn’t feel real,” the two-time Olympian tells Us Weekly. “It doesn’t feel like I won the silver medal in the all-around, that’s crazy to me. I’m very proud of that.”
Just a few months ago, the 22-year-old’s goals were focused on just making the team, and bringing home the team gold she “expected.”
“I didn’t really think after that. I just didn’t want to put too much pressure on it and I didn’t expect to get a silver in floors and all-around.”
Since the former Dancing With the Stars contestant met such success in Rio (coach Mihai Brestyan told her she’s in the best shape of her life), she’s not ruling out any future gymnastics competitions.
“Someone said to me, ‘Do you realize if you just get one more medal you’re tied with Shannon Miller and if you get another one’ – which is obviously way easier said than done – ‘then you’ll be by yourself up there,’” the athlete says. “So I mean, it’s definitely something I’m thinking about. I definitely need a break just to kind of take time, I’ll probably take a year off like I did last time and then we’ll kind of regroup and see from there.”
In addition to catching up on sleep — the Final Five member loves catching zzz’s so much she has a “Nap Queen” hat — Raisman’s break will also include some retail therapy, ideally to reward herself with a new purse.
“I love going to Saks and Bloomingdale’s. I like going shopping with Nastia [Liukin], but she’s a little dangerous to go shopping with,” the team captain explains of the former Olympic gymnast’s penchant for encouraging her friend to treat herself. “But I told her we’ll even each other out, make sure we don’t go crazy.”
In the meantime, Raisman is focused on another generous present: the $10,000 gift her sponsor, Bridgestone, is donating in honor of her late grandmother to Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
“I always say this to my mom, she would be here in the front row,” Raisman says. “She would have loved Dancing With the Stars too, she would have been there every single week. She would have tried to go out there and dance with me during the show.”
While the Feat by Aly sock designer’s DWTS days are behind her, she’s hoping one of her Final Five teammates will soon appear on the show.
“That would be very cool! They usually do an Olympian … no one knows who they’re going to do but it would be cool,” the gymnast says. “I would definitely cheer them on.”
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