Aly Raisman spent years pushing her body to its absolute limit in pursuit of Olympic gold. A decade after her final Games, the gymnastics legend says she is still paying the price.
The 32-year-old made a startling admission during a recent appearance on CBS News’ Healthful with Norah O’Donnell, revealing that she does not believe her body has ever fully recovered from the punishing training schedule she endured as an elite gymnast.
“My body completely just gave up on me,” Raisman said.
The six-time Olympic medalist explained that she began training seriously around age 9 or 10 and eventually spent as much as six and a half to seven hours a day in the gym, six days a week.
At the time, Raisman was focused almost entirely on perfection, winning and earning approval from coaches and judges.
Rest was something she struggled to allow herself.
“I don’t even feel like my body has fully recovered,” Raisman said while reflecting on the years of nonstop physical strain.
That confession is especially striking considering what Raisman accomplished during those grueling years.
She captained the U.S. women’s gymnastics teams at both the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics, helping Team USA win gold at each Games. She also won individual Olympic medals, becoming one of the most recognizable American gymnasts of her generation.
But Raisman now says the pressure went far beyond competition.
She described herself as a lifelong “people pleaser” who constantly sought validation, something that was amplified in a sport where athletes are literally scored by judges.
Years earlier, Raisman had already spoken publicly about just how emotionally brutal those marathon training days could become. In a 2016 interview, she recalled training six or seven hours at a time and sometimes finishing practices in tears because she feared she was not good enough to make the Olympic team.
Now retired from competition, Raisman says she has had to completely rethink her relationship with exercise.
Instead of pushing through exhaustion, she is learning to listen when her body tells her to stop.
CBS released a separate clip from the interview in which Raisman said she no longer feels guilty about skipping a workout when she needs rest — something that would have been difficult for her during her competitive career.
One phrase has particularly stuck with her: if you refuse to choose a day to rest, eventually your body will choose one for you.
For Raisman, those words carry more weight after years of burnout, exhaustion and physical wear.
Her comments were part of a broader conversation about women learning to advocate for their own health. Raisman also discussed the difficulty she has experienced trying to get treatment for painful menstrual symptoms, revealing that even after being cleared by several doctors to see a specialist, she faced an approximately yearlong wait for an appointment.
Since leaving gymnastics, Raisman has become an outspoken advocate for mental health, women’s health and survivors of abuse.
But her latest comments offer a particularly raw look at the hidden cost behind the Olympic medals and podium celebrations.
For millions of viewers, Raisman was the picture of strength.
Behind the scenes, however, she says years of pushing her body to the breaking point left effects she can still feel nearly a decade later.