By Luan Peszek
Action photo by John Cheng
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Alexandra Raisman, known as Aly to her friends, began the sport of gymnastics in 1996 when she took a mommy and me class at just 18 months old. She trained at Excel Gymnastics until age 10 and then moved to Brestyan's American Gymnastics in Burlington, Mass. This ambitious 17-year-old from Needham, Mass., hasn't looked back since. Instead, she's been climbing the gymnastics ladder of success while training with her coaches Mihai and Silvia Brestyan, along with her teammate Alicia Sacramone, who is a nine-time World Championships and Olympic medalist.

Raisman's mom Lynn first realized her daughter had potential in the sport when Aly returned home from a TOPs camp and was invited back to an elite training camp along with Alicia and another teammate at Brestyan's. Lynn added, "I didn't know much about the sport. I sort of learned things as we went along."

Raisman is now a rising star on the USA National Team, winning numerous medals at both national and international competitions.

She burst onto the gymnastics scene in 2009 when she won the all-around bronze medal at the Visa Championships in the junior division. She was selected for the Junior Pan American Championships team and won the team gold medal, the all-around bronze medal as well as the gold on vault and floor.

In 2010, she earned the all-around bronze medal at the Visa Championships and a spot on the World Championships team where she and her teammates won a silver medal. She said, "It was a truly amazing experience at the World Championships. I learned so much from the competition and the practices. Coming so close to the gold medal was, of course, a little frustrating. However, winning the silver medal was an amazing feeling. I think it makes everyone want the gold even more for 2011."

It was also at the 2010 World Championships that this powerhouse tumbler made event finals on her favorite event, floor exercise, and just missed the medal podium, finishing fourth.

Now in 2011, she's had an amazing year thus far with a top three finish and numerous individual event medals at the AT&T American Cup, the City of Jessolo meet in Italy, the Visa Championships and won the all-around title at the CoverGirl Classic, where she competed an Amanar (Yurchenko 2.5 twist) on vault.

The next stop is Tokyo, Japan, for the 2011 World Championships. Raisman says her favorite thing about gymnastics is performing -- and, performing is what she'll do in Tokyo, when she and her teammates will attempt to once again reach the medal podium.

An overachiever at both gymnastics and school, Raisman is a senior at Needham High School. Because of all the travel due to gymnastics, she's taking her last few credit hours online and doing some independent studies with teachers. This way she can finish high school, concentrate on her gymnastics and still participate in some school activities as a senior. Raisman was awarded the 2011 Pearl D. Mazor Outstanding Female Jewish High School Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, given on behalf of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Raisman plans to do collegiate gymnastics at the University of Florida when she's done with elite competition because she likes the Gators' coaches, gymnasts, and sunshine, plus she has family who live in the state of Florida.

In her free time, she enjoys shopping. In fact, she did a little online shopping while in Huntsville, Texas, at the Selection Camp. According to her mom, her package just arrived at their house!

Raisman's parents are Richard (former hockey and baseball player) and Lynn (former high school gymnast) and she is the oldest of four kids. Her brother Brett is 15 and plays hockey, her sister Chloe is 11 and horseback rides, and her sister Madison is 9 and does all kinds of stuff.

Raisman's mom, Lynn, says, "Aly is great with her brother and sisters. Now that she can drive it really helps a lot and she takes her sisters to the nail salon and shopping and even lets them hang out with her when her friends come over."

And, speaking of driving, Raisman's parents recently surprised her with a new car – a Land Rover LR2. "Aly and her dad were crazy looking for cars," said Lynn. "She was driving my old car for a while but my husband found this car and knew Aly would love it. We parked the new car in the driveway for her and put a bow on it. Aly was thrilled."

Good luck to Aly and Team USA at the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Oct. 7-16.