Alexandra Rose Raisman Bio

Alexandra Rose Raisman was born May 25, 1994. She retired as an American artist gymnast. She was captain of the 2012 "Fierce Five" and 2016 "Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams that took home their respective teams competitions.At the 2012 Olympics in London she took home gold medals in floor and team events, and also the bronze medal for the balance beam, which made her the most recognized American gymnast of the Games. In the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she was awarded a gold medal in the team competition which made her and her co-teammate Gabby Douglas the sole Americans who have won back-to-back team gold medals. Raisman took home silver medals for the all-around competition for individuals, as well as the floor exercise. She is the third most accomplished American gymnast in Olympic history, following Shannon Miller and Simone Biles with six Olympic medals.Raisman was also a part of the gold-winning American teams in the 2011 and 2015 World Championships, and the bronze medalist in the world championships on floor exercise in 2011. She also is two-time champion in the national championships on floor exercise (2012 and 2015) she was the 2012 national champion on balance beam, and she has won five medals in the all-around section at the national championships (silver in 2016, and bronze in 2011 and the 2015 season). In 2013, she was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Raisman was born on May 25, 1994, in the Boston suburb of Needham, Massachusetts, to Lynn (nee Faber), an ex-high school gymnast and Rick Raisman. She has three younger siblings: Madison, Chloe and Brett. Raisman is Jewish and states that "I enjoy being able to not just be a representative of the U.S.A but as well the Jewish Community everywhere." Raisman started gymnastics when she was eighteen months. She credits her first love for gymnastics to the "Magnificent Seven", the gold medal-winning U.S. women's team at the 1996 Summer Olympics which she watched on VHS.She took classes at Exxcel Gymnastics and Climbing through Level 8 when she joined Brestyan's American Gymnastics Club under coaches Mihai and Silvia Brestyan. Raisman was a graduate of Needham High School, 2012 after completing her senior year via online courses and training to compete in the Olympics.