Aly Raisman Talks Life After Rio, Teaching President Obama to Do a Split
— -- Six-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman is keeping busy after the Rio Games, including joining the "Final Five" and other U.S. medalists in a Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.
"It’s 36 cities, 38 shows, so we’ve been sleeping on tour buses," Raisman said today on "Good Morning America." "It’s been so much fun. It’s definitely been a totally different experience. It’s kind of a way for people to see our personalities. We do gymnastics but we’re also having fun. The last number is all these mixes of 80s songs. We’re all in these bright colors. It’s really awesome. We have a really good time.”
“We actually just had four shows in a row," the gymnastic champion said. "We only have one week left. We’ve been pretty much gone since Sept. 5. The first show was Sept. 14. The last show is actually in Boston where I live. It’s Nov. 13, so I’m very excited."
Raisman also talked about trying to teach President Obama how to do a split in early October.
“He wasn’t very good at it, so it wasn’t that nerve-wracking because he couldn’t really do it,” she said. “But it’s OK. He gets an "A" for effort. We just told him 'good job.'”
Raisman is enjoying cheering on her teammate, Laurie Hernandez, as she performs this season on “Dancing With the Stars.”
“She’s so much better than I was. She is so good,” said Raisman, who competed on season 16 of “DWTS.” “We’ve loved watching her. She’s amazing. I went to watch her the second week and I hope to watch her again. She needs to give me some advice. She’s so much better than I was. It’s just one of those things—She always has had the ‘it’ factor. When she’s performing or doing her floor routine, your eyes are just drawn to her. She’s such a natural performer. I always said after this, whenever she’s done with gymnastics, she’s going to be on the Disney channel. She’s like a star. She’s so good at everything.”
The Olympian can’t wait to get home to relax and spend time with her newly adopted dog, a Maltipoo named Gibson.
“We had a photo shoot with rescue dogs and it was actually my first station of the day, and we saw Gibson and I had to have him because he’s so cute and so loving,” she recalled. “I think every dog deserves a home and my life has been so special. Especially the last year, being so stressful, it’s so therapeutic to have a dog. He’s so loving, he’s so caring. He’s just amazing. I love him so much.
“We have one more week of the tour,” she added. “I’m excited to spend time with my family during Thanksgiving and over the holidays and then I think things will pick back up again. But definitely spending time with my puppy because I’ve missed him a lot.”
