If there's a pantheon of American Olympians, Aly Raisman is in it.
She has been a mainstay of the Summer Games, captaining two consecutive women's gymnastics teams to gold in 2012 and 2016, then returning as an ambassador in 2024. At the Milan Cortina Games, Raisman is making her Winter Olympics debut as part of Team USA's robust cheering section.
For the six-time medalist, it never gets old.
“There’s just magic in the Olympics,” Raisman said. “There's just something about it, it brings the world together. People’s emotions, their stories. Everything about it is so powerful and moving.”
She was first bitten by the Olympic bug in 1996, when she watched the "Magnificent Seven" become the first U.S. women's gymnastics team to win gold. Raisman sat, enraptured by the VHS tape, on her parents’ green leather couch in Massachusetts, not knowing — but perhaps beginning to dream — that she would anchor the U.S. to their next Olympic gold 16 years later.
The Olympics through the small screen
Raisman competed in a transitional era. At the 2012 London Olympics, where she made her debut, social media was just beginning to influence the Olympic experience. By her second Games in 2016, it was ubiquitous and its reverberations in every aspect of culture were practically inescapable. With increased visibility came more opportunity, and more noise.
"Social media can be very loud and there's a lot of different opinions, so it's just very, very hard to navigate that," Raisman said. "But I think when I was competing, I just tried to stay in a little bubble with my teammates, my coaches and my family."
"I just kind of tried to imagine that we weren't competing at the Olympics, and maybe a lot of people weren't watching it," she added with a laugh.
Of course, that could not have been further than the truth.
Despite her efforts to insulate herself, the pressure to deliver on the stage that she worked her whole life to reach was immense.
“There was this expectation of gold," Raisman recalled.
While the intensity of the Olympic spotlight hasn't wavered, Raisman has observed a recent widening of the international lens.
For one thing, athletes have never been more accessible to the public. Now, TikTok vlogs featuring gear hauls or the Olympic rings-shaped pasta in the Athlete Village can bring attention to those who may not leave the Games with hardware.
"I think it's cool to see a lot of athletes getting recognition for their personalities or what they stand for," Raisman said. "We are getting to know more athletes, and not just the ones on the top of the podium."
Still, the pressure that accumulates every four years is singular, especially for podium contenders and those on the brink of making history for their countries.
"I really just tried to remind myself that my worth doesn't revolve around my success or my losses, which is easier said than done, especially in the moment and the pressure of competing at the Olympics," Raisman said.
Making Olympic excellence sustainable
Another development Raisman lauded is the increasing longevity of female athletic careers at the elite level. Gymnastics and figure skating in particular have long been represented on the world's largest stage by teenagers.
As captain of the gold medal-winning "Fierce Five" team at the 2012 London Olympics, Raisman was the oldest member of her squad at just 18. Similarly, the past three Olympic champions in women's figure skating before these Games were all minors.
In recent years, more athletes in sports traditionally dominated by high schoolers have continued to excel well into their 20s, affirming that the Olympic stage is not just for girls, but grown women. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Raisman saw her former teammate, Simone Biles, became the oldest woman to win the Olympic individual all-around gold medal in 72 years at 27.
On Thursday, Alysa Liu, 20, won the first gold by an American in women's figure skating since 2002. Amber Glenn, 26, shed more tradition in Milan by becoming the oldest U.S. figure skater to even compete in women's singles at the Olympics since 1928, nearly a century. The broader landscape of the sport reflects this tectonic shift; beginning with the 2024-25 season, the International Skating Union raised the minimum age for senior figure skating competitions to 17.
“As athletes get older, you learn what works for you,” Raisman said. “Even down to what foods make you feel good and how much water you need before practice.” For much of her competitive career, this burgeoning sense of autonomy was not the norm.
In wake of her retirement from gymnastics, Raisman has made molding these systems for the better an integral part of her second act. She is aware that young gymnasts look up to her the way she idolized Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes from that green leather couch in 1996.
"I think when the people around the athletes are trusting them, guiding them and empowering them to have the confidence to advocate for what they need, that's really powerful and very inspiring," Raisman said. "It's really cool to see so many athletes being able to say, 'This didn't work for me.'"
For her, one thing is certain: Olympic athletes do not need to be convinced to care. “You never have to worry about an athlete not working hard. They've already given so much of themselves to their sport.”
Back on the mat, from a new angle
In addition to her work as a pioneer for athlete wellbeing and mental health, Raisman has returned to gymnastics in a new role as a collegiate commentator.
Raisman never competed in NCAA gymnastics herself, electing to forfeit her scholarship to the University of Florida and turn pro. If she had been born a few years later, Olympic opportunities and a college athletic career would not have been mutually exclusive. Now, stars of Team USA like Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Suni Lee have reaped the benefits of NIL rules to shine in both arenas.
The two competitive fields diverge in many ways, but Raisman's commentary is heavily informed by her experiences in elite gymnastics. She clearly has a finely-tuned eye for the technical elements of the sport. Raisman also understands how criticism can linger in the psyche of young athletes, who often suffer from perfectionism already.
"I think I'm just really mindful of how I speak about them, because I just want to make sure that I'm making their bubble more positive, because there's already enough negativity and harshness out there," Raisman said.
She is especially cognizant of how she frames the mistakes that inevitably happen when your sport involves flipping on a piece of wood that is only four inches wide.
“I want to normalize that mistakes are part of being human,” Raisman explained. “It's part of learning and part of growing. ... It takes a lot of courage to get back up there and to keep going, and to have to finish a routine when you've fallen on the first skill."
Once an Olympian, always an Olympian
Milan has been an Olympic reunion for Raisman and her Rio teammates, including Biles and Laurie Hernandez.
“When we’re together, I feel like my 16-year-old self again,” Raisman said. “We’re just laughing and being silly.”
Nearly a decade after her last competitive outing, Raisman still finds immense solace in the few people that understand everything she has been through.
"I never expected when I was younger that I would be going to watch the Winter Olympics and be able to have such great teammates. We'll be connected, I hope, for the rest of our lives."
She beamed with pride talking about Hernandez’s upcoming Broadway debut, Biles’ unapologetic confidence, and the paths their lives have taken since they exited the Olympic stage.
While Raisman identifies as a bit of a ruminator, Biles' free and easy demeanor is an antidote for anxiety to this day.
"Simone is also always making me laugh and we sort of joke that we're a little bit opposite in some ways," she shared. "Simone is a lot more carefree and really has a lot of confidence to be authentically herself. So I just feel like she helps me worry a little bit less."
For someone who once carried the weight of Olympic expectation on her shoulders, Raisman has instilled both herself and her sport with enduring perspective.
“We’re so lucky to live in a time with so much opportunity for female athletes,” Raisman said. “It’s so cool to see the different directions we’re all going.”
The magic of the Games has not faded for the triple Olympic champion, but her world has expanded to make room for even more.