2012 Women's Gymnastic Olympic Team: Aly Raismen Unsung Hero for US Team

Aly Raisman turned heads on Sunday when she qualified over teammate and best friend Jordyn Wieber.

Raisman, 18, is the oldest gymnast and team captain for the US women’s squad. At the same time, she’s also one of the most underrated. Her impressive score of 60.391 in the women’s all-around qualifier was good enough for second only to Viktoria Komova of Russia.

That means Raisman, the leader and captain, scored higher than all the other impressive talent on the US team. It isn’t so surprising given her past success.

She placed fourth overall at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Her prowess and well-rounded acumen helped the US win the team competition title, the same title they will be trying earn in these Olympics.

However, with all of the attention and spotlight focused on Wieber and Gabby Douglas, it may have been easy to overlook her excellent talents.

Not only if she a good all-around gymnast, she’s no slouch in the floor competition. She broke away from the competition, notably defeating Vanesa Ferrarri (3^rd place) of Italy who had a dominant performance in the qualifiers. Wieber finished the event in sixth.

She didn’t earn the second overall score in the all-around by showing many weaknesses over the weekend. In addition to her first place floor performance, she also recorded top-5 finishes in the beam and vault.

It would be very surprising to see Raisman return back to the US with one or more medals in hand.

Her kryptonite continues to be uneven bars. She finished the qualifying round with a 14.166 score, good enough for 23^rd place. First-place finisher, Beth Tweddle of Great Brittain, scored an impressive 16.133 in the event.

If Raisman can continue the overall effectiveness she has displayed in most of her events through the qualifying round, the stacked US team will surely walk away Olympic gymnastics gold from the London Games.

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