Youngest 2012 Olympic Athlete: Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas Lead Team USA to Glory

Culture

Aly Raisman, Gabrielle Douglas and reigning World Champion Jordyn Wieber are Team USA’s best hope to shine in London the 2012 Olympics female gymnastics.

Wieber, who finished fourth during the qualifying round on Sunday and will miss a shot at an Olympic gold medal (because of new international rules that only allow two competitors per country to advance to the finals), will still compete in the team final where the American team qualified in the first position. She showed the world how to be a good sport when, containing tears of disappointment, she declared to feel proud for her fellow Americans and said she looked forward to contributing to the team during the group finals. 

Raisman, who helped Team USA to qualify first to the team final, qualified second to the all around final with a score of 60.391 -- ahead of teammates Gabby Douglas and Jordyn Wieber. "Aly’s success today just proves that hard work pays off," U.S. coach Martha Karolyi said, according. "She’s one of the most serious and hardest-working girls in training. So finally it came true, and she was able to perform at the [highest] level," Karolyi added.  

Douglas, who made a reality her dream of classifying to the Olympic Team in 2012 when her name appeared first on the leader board at the conclusion of the AT&T American Cup at Madison Square Garden in March, also competed at the 2012 Visa Championships in June were she tied Wieber to whom she ultimately lost by only .2.

Douglas was also featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the rest of the USA Women's Olympic Gymnastics team on the July 18, 2012 issue of Olympic Preview. This marked the first time an entire Olympic gymnastics team had been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.