By: Jonathan Teal
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – As part of the the Distinguished Lectures Committee’s, former two-time captain of the American gymnast team Aly Raisman will be delivering a speech. The speech will be next Tuesday night at 7 in the Fayetteville Town Center.
Raisman has many accolades as an athlete, but it is what she did after her gymnastics career that made her even more inspirational to young ladies everywhere. In 2017, Raisman, along with many other in the U.S. Gymnastics world, spoke out against a former team doctor for the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team. Raisman detailed how the former doctor would sexually abuse her while she was competing for a medal.
Sally Gairhan, the chairwoman for the Distinguished Lectures Committee, said Raisman’s speech will be beneficial for the U of A. “We choose speakers each year that will fulfill our motto: empowering voices, empowering students,” said Gairhan. “I believe it’s important to bring forward voices of survivors to provide students with those empowering stories.”
Raisman became a leader off the mat as she is using her platform to talk about mental health and surviving sexual abuse. In fact, Raisman wrote a New York Times best-selling memoir entitled Fierce. She continues to call for systemic changes within the sports world.
Aly Raisman is part of the iconic 2012 and 2016 Women’s Gymnastics team. She is also the second most decorated gymnast of all time, and she was the first American gymnast to win gold in the floor exercise. Raisman is one of only two U.S. gymnasts that made back-to-back teams in more than 15 years.