Aly Raisman on the Magic of the Gymnastics Team Competition

The Olympics are inspiring—especially for young athletes. I loved watching the ’96 Olympic team because it was in America, and I loved their leotards—they were red, white, and blue. On top of that, they won the gold medal. I was only 2 years old when it happened, so my mom had a VHS tape that she would replay it for me over and over when I was older. I loved the American girls, and I also loved the Ukrainian gymnast Lilia Podkopayeva. She won the all around, and she won floor. When I watched the tape, I always dreamed of winning floor at the Olympics like her.

Here in America, the biggest sports are football, hockey, baseball, and basketball because they’re big team events. In the Olympics, there’s something about the whole country coming together and supporting a team. There’s nothing like watching a team event, and watching the Americans win. We always say that the most important thing is the team first. The priority is the team gold medal, and then we focus on the individual ones. That’s what people remember—the team competition.