Aly Raisman will be 22-years-old in late July of 2016.
For any other athlete in any other sport, that age coincides with being overwhelmingly green and the word “potential” is typically assigned. In gymnastics, however, 22 is ancient. It’s the equivalent of a quarterback excelling at age 40.
With that said, today could be it for Aly Raisman as far as Olympic medals are concerned. There are no holdovers on this year’s team from the 2008 Olympics and the last time U.S. female gymnasts participated in back-to-back games occurred in 2000 when Dominique Dawes and Amy Chow accomplished the feat after getting their initial exposure at the 1996 games in Atlanta.
She has a team gold but is seeking that individual medal that would place her amongst the greats in United States’ gymnastics history.
Raisman is favored by many pundits to grab gold in today’s floor exercise (11:23 a.m.) after finishing first in the qualifier.
Jordyn Wieber will also be competing in the floor final. Raisman’s other shot at a medal will happen earlier in the day in the beam final (9:47 a.m.).
NBC will air both events on tape delay beginning at 8 p.m..
