SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – As the red, white and blue confetti fell inside the SAP Center on Sunday night, Aly Raisman reached out her right hand and called for her fellow new U.S. Olympians to join in on a quick team cheer.
At 22, they call Raisman “Grandma.” And this determined, ultra-focused grandmother gymnast will be leading the Americans into another Olympics with all the kids, even if she wasn’t so sure as she waited for the official announcement.
“We were joking, I was like, ‘I really am going to live up to my grandma name because I’m going to have a heart attack before they announce the names,'” Raisman said of the excruciating minutes before the five gymnasts got final word.
Teammate and three-time world champion Simone Biles wasted no time with a witty response: “We’re too young to die. So no heart attacks will take place in this arena tonight.”
On balance beam, her third rotation of the night Sunday, Raisman shined and looked nothing short of superbly confident. She let out a tiny breath before her dismount on a spectacular routine that scored a 15.250 – much stronger than her 14.8 in Friday’s opening night of the Olympic Trials. She wound up in third place with a 119.750 over the two-day, eight-rotation competition.