ST. LOUIS – Aly Raisman had just finished fifth in the world, a fact seemingly contradicted by the tears welling in her eyes. At that championship last fall, the Olympic medalist struggled to find confidence as she failed to make the all-around final behind two of her American teammates.
The concern she had about national team coordinator Martha Karolyi not taking her back seems as misplaced now as it did then, and with a shift in confidence in the past eight months Raisman can see that.
“I think that I was just too hard on myself. I think I learned that because my preparation was there,” Raisman said late Friday after she had finished her best all-around competition since returning to try to make a second Olympic team.
“I think I was just so nervous and I just put way too much pressure on myself. I think it’s OK to be nervous like I was (Friday), but at the same time, if I make a mistake, I’m not gonna be so mad at myself.”
With one more round of competition at the U.S. championships on Sunday and Olympic trials in less than two weeks, Raisman has found the balance between nervousness and confidence. For the Fierce Fiver, that might be as important as finally finding the routines that work for her.
Raisman, 22, helped the Americans to team gold in London before winning bronze on balance beam and gold on floor. She took more than two years off from competition before returning in preparation for Rio.
Though she was easing back into the sport – longtime coach Mihai Brestyan made her do months of conditioning before attempting any skills – her expectations remained high.
So when the team traveled to Glasgow for the world championships in October, Raisman was looking to make the all-around, floor and beam finals. She made none.
“She was overloaded,” said Brestyan. “Not physical inability, but exactly the opposite. Trying to show to everybody she is back, she is wonderful. And then everything was over but it’s the same mistake.”
Brestyan had been through this before, with Raisman struggling in 2010, and assured Karolyi they would build Raisman back up.
So in addition to training that includes an hour of conditioning before doing routines on all four events, something designed to make competitions easy by comparison, Brestyan has worked with Raisman on focusing her nerves. They’ve concentrated on how to do that while dealing with delays from the television broadcast. He’s made her dismiss the notion that the Olympics are any less attainable at 22 than they were at 18.
And at camps held each month, Karolyi has helped ease Raisman’s fears.
“I hadn’t really competed that much going into world championships, so now I think I’m a little bit more calm,” Raisman said. “I don’t think anyone really realized how much pressure I was putting on myself, so it was a wake-up call but in a good way just to make myself a little bit more calm.”
It has helped Raisman perform as best as she has since London. She finished second to three-time world champion Simone Biles at the Pacific Rim Championships in April before winning the Secret Classic, in which Biles did not compete the all-around, earlier this month.
Her all-around score of 60.450 in the first round of U.S. championships marked the first time she topped 60 points since she returned to competition.
“Last year wasn’t a good year for her. She looked a little bit nervous, a little bit who knows what,” said Karolyi. “But this year, gradually from every training camp to the next training camp she improved, from first competition to the next one she improved, and I think right now she shows that she feels like she handles these routines that she has.”
To be sure, Raisman was still nervous before starting the competition Friday on balance beam. But her score there was her best of the season, and she oozed confidence as she posted the second-best floor score of the night.
She’s focused on what’s ahead with more confidence and a clearer perspective, even if those come with the highest of expectations.
“It’s never enough until you’re on that Olympic team and you have a medal around your neck,” Raisman said.
