Boston Herald

FOR ALY, CLUTCH TO KLUTZ

Says coordinati­on ends at gymnastics

- By OLIVIA VANNI

Aly Raisman may have multiple Olympic gold medals to her name, but apparently her physical finesse on the gymnastics floor doesn’t extend beyond her sport of choice. The Needham native just dished about all of the skills she happens to lack as she served as a guest on the latest episode of the “Life is Good Ping Podcast.”

“I’m the most unathletic person besides gymnastics,” Raisman told Life is Good co-founders Bert and

John Jacobs. “And I think people think I’m being modest.”

The Fierce Five femme emphasized that she isn’t kidding when she talks about the extent of her inabilitie­s. In particular, Raisman touched upon her subpar hand-eye coordinati­on, which she’s been trying to improve by recently starting tennis lessons.

“I’m competitiv­e, so I’ll pick it up quick, but I have to practice,” Raisman said.

“I can’t snap. I can’t whistle,” she added. “You know how people can curl their tongues? I can’t do that. There’s such a small percentage of people who can’t do all of those, so I feel very lucky.”

And those comically ironic pitfalls stretch from the athletic arena and into the more theatrical discipline­s.

“I cannot sing, but I really wish I could,” Raisman said. “I do sing in the shower. I’m not good at it. I put my music on loud so I can’t hear myself, but in my head, I’m good.

“I can dance,” she continued, before adding the qualifier, “But the thing about dancing is if you’re having fun, you’re a good dancer, in my opinion. And sometimes the ‘worst dancers’ are the best dancers because they’re so fun to watch.”

 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Needham native Aly Raisman told the ‘Life is Good Ping Podcast’ she is ‘the most unathletic person besides gymnastics.’
GETTY IMAGES Needham native Aly Raisman told the ‘Life is Good Ping Podcast’ she is ‘the most unathletic person besides gymnastics.’

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States