Aly Raisman might have been the American women's gymnast with the lowest profile going into the London Olympics, but after her final day, she walks out as the most decorated of the "fierce five", and the 18-year-old could not be happier.
Raisman finished her Olympics by taking gold in the floor exercise with an astounding display, which left everyone in the arena spellbound. "I had nothing to lose," Raisman said of the flawless routine. "It was going to be my last memory from London, and I wanted to make it count.
"Today has been a dream come true. It was the best floor routine I've ever done. My coach said it was the best routine he'd ever seen me do.
"To have it be at the Olympic Games, in the finals, is just really amazing and just a dream come true. That's what you work for your whole life."
Raisman used the Hebrew folk song "Hava Nagila" as the music to her exercise, and acknowledged the fans who waved American and Israeli flags in the arena. Raisman revealed she had not intentionally chosen the song as a tribute to the Israeli athletes who were killed by terrorist at the Munich Olympic Games 40 years ago. "Having that music makes this very special to me," she said. "It means a lot to me. If there had been a minute of silence, I would have participated."
Raisman also took the bronze medal on the balance beam. Initially placed fourth with a score of 14.966, the U.S. team questioned the mark, and after review, the judges added an extra tenth to the score to hand her the bronze, relegating Catalyna Ponor to fourth. Raisman had previously missed out on a medal in the all-round, after posting the same score as Aliya Mustafina, but just missing out on a bronze on a tiebreak.
"A gold medal is a gold medal, but I definitely felt like (beam) was redemption from the other night in the all-around," Raisman said. "I was in the same exact position, but it went in my favor this time."
The rest of the American gymnasts came out empty-handed with all-round gold medal winner Gabrielle Douglas finishing seventh on the balance beam after a fall, and Jordyn Wieber, tipped by many to bring home the largest medal haul, only managing a seventh-place finish in the floor exercise, leaving her without a single individual medal.
"I'm so happy, going home with two Olympic gold medals and a couple of titles under my belt," Douglas said. "I'm so happy for Aly; she deserves to be up on that podium.
"Olympic all-around champion is going to be attached to my name," added Douglas. "Life is going to be crazy for me. Even though we had a very bad ending of the chapter, the beginning was very strong."