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Aly Raisman Has Nothing But Praise and Pride for BFF and Former Teammate Simone Biles’s Gymnastics Comeback

The iconic athletic duo won gold together at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Ananya Panchal

Simone Biles and Aly Raisman

Simone Biles and Aly Raisman.

Aly Raisman is Simone Biles’s biggest cheerleader, and the Massachusetts native can’t stop gushing kind words about her former teammate.

Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, returned to competition for the first time since 2021 and won her eighth U.S. national championship last August. The 26-year-old also made headlines as the oldest woman to capture a national title since the event began in 1963.

“It’s so exciting to watch Simone. I’m so impressed and so proud of her. It’s just really, truly amazing. I’m really in awe that she is still competing,” Raisman, who is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and former U.S. women’s gymnastics team captain, said. “I just really admire and am impressed with how she just does such a good job of having balance in her life. I love watching her not only succeed in gymnastics—she works so hard and she’s doing so well—but also in her personal life. She just seems so happy and she’s having so much fun, and that just makes me really happy to see.”

Biles got married to longtime boyfriend and Green Bay Packers player Jonathan Owens last April. In October, she won her sixth all-around world championship title, bring her total to a record-breaking 37 medals, and in December she was named the AP Female Athlete of the Year for the third time.

Raisman, 29, is also making career moves of her own—she joined ESPN as an NCAA gymnastics analyst and made her broadcasting debut on Friday.

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Ananya Panchal
ANANYA PANCHAL

Ananya Panchal is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit, where she covers fashion, beauty, pop culture and the internet’s favorite personalities and trends. She joined the brand in 2022 after roles at Bustle, the San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. Panchal loves to write about fashion in all its forms—from standout runway moments and evolving street style to the best accessories to elevate each season’s wardrobe (she rarely goes anywhere without a stack of jewelry and a coffee in hand). A self-proclaimed beauty fanatic, she’s always on the hunt for must-have products and loves breaking down viral trends. Her favorite series at the moment is spotlighting female founders and the stories behind the brands they’ve built—especially those shaping the future of fashion, wellness and tech. She is based between New York City and San Francisco and, when she’s not writing, can be found rewatching One Tree Hill, playing sudoku, trying new restaurants or ranking her favorite Disney Channel Original Movies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism with a minor in criminal justice from Boston University.

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