RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (WHDH) - Needham-native Aly Raisman has a big night coming up Tuesday, and she’s been working very hard to make it a success.
So far in these games, Raisman has earned a gold in the team final and a silver in the individual all-around.
With her three medals from London, she is tied with Nastia Liukin and Mary Lou Retton as the second-most decorated American gymnast of all time. Shannon Miller holds the top spot.
If Raisman does medal in the floor exercise Tuesday night, she will take that number two spot for herself.
Monday, Aly’s teammates Laurie Hernandez and Simone Biles competed in the beam final.
They added to team USA’s success with a silver and bronze medal.
The woman’s beam final didn’t go quite as planned for Biles. She landed awkwardly while completing a front tuck during her routine, and grabbed the beam to avoid falling.
The mistake was not enough to cost her a spot on the podium, but was enough to keep the all-around champion from gold.
She finished in third place.
“Well I’m disappointed in how I performed my beam set, not in the medal that I got because I shouldn’t have gotten any higher, so that’s fine,” said Biles.
The bronze medal also dashed any chance of Biles becoming the first female gymnast to win five gold medals in a single Olympics.
Biles’ teammate, Laurie Hernandez flipped her way to success.
Hernandez is the youngest gymnast on team USA, and she came away with a silver medal.
“I’ve been training so hard and so I’m glad I just did the routine that I’ve been doing in practice. I have no regrets,” said Hernandez.
Team USA had a tough loss on the track Monday.
Allyson Felix was heavily favored to take gold, but a dive derailed her moment.
The four-time gold medalist settled for silver in the 400-meter race.
Shaunae Miller won by just seven one-hundredths of a second as she resorted to desperate measured to cross the finish line first.
The silver medal for Felix, still a huge accomplishment, makes her the most decorated U.S. woman in Olympic track and field history.
“It’s bittersweet because it didn’t come the way I would have hoped but you just got to pick up the pieces,” said Felix.
Felix now has seven Olympic medals.
Team USA will be taking things to the pool Tueday as Amherst’s Michael Hixon competes in the semifinals of the men’s individual 3-meter springboard.
He finished tenth overall in the preliminaries.
Hixon will dive Tuesday morning, and if he moves on he will compete again in the afternoon.
Last Wednesday, Hixon scored silver in the synchronized 3-meter springboard with partner Sam Dorman.
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