Aly Raisman and Simone Biles have a unique relationship on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team.
“She’s like our sleeping little grandma,” Biles said of Raisman.
“She always says that I sleep a lot,” Raisman said. “She looks at me like I’m the crazy one, but I think she’s the crazy one, because it’s normal to be tired when you work out a lot, but she’s just never tired.”
They’re likely to spend a lot of time together over the next seven months, maybe even the rest of the year, at national team camps, competitions, perhaps even the Olympics and a post-Olympic tour.
Biles, the 18-year-old, three-time reigning World all-around champion, felt inspired watching Raisman’s gold medal-winning floor exercise routine at the London 2012 Olympics.
“I wanted to be just like her, and floor was like my specialty also,” said Biles, who also won floor exercise gold at the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Worlds.
Raisman, 21, can become the oldest U.S. Olympic women’s artistic gymnast since 2004 this year. She and Gabby Douglas are in line to become the first women to make back-to-back Olympic gymnastics teams since 2000.
If there’s anything keeping the consummate leader Raisman up at night, it’s the energetic Biles.
“We’re kind of pretty much similar in the gym, but outside of the gym, I’m passed out sleeping, and she’s eating candy and jumping up and down on the beds,” Raisman said in November.
“There’s sometimes when I see her eating candy, and I literally just like snatch it from her, because that’s the last thing that she needs. She was eating these energy things the other day and I was just like, she’s not gonna sleep for like a month. She’s just crazy all the time. So I don’t know. Simone reminds me of that little kid that just doesn’t sit still. ... I watch how much sugar she has. She was drinking tea, and she put seven packets of sugar in her tea. It was a small cup of tea, and I was like, ‘That is the last thing that you need, and that’s disgusting.’
“I mean, one packet of sugar is sweet enough. She put seven in a small cup. ... So I took it away from her, and she was mad at me. I was like, ‘Sorry, I’m your mom.’”
What about Raisman, what kind of grandmotherly advice does she dole out?
“Go to bed early,” Biles joked.
Raisman, though, sees a little bit of herself in Biles. Never sitting still, except when she’s napping of course.
“If I were to stop doing gymnastics, I would probably be bouncing off the walls all the time,” Raisman said. “Worse than Simone.”
MORE GYMNASTICS: Sam Mikulak looks to ceiling in return from injury
Happy birthday to this chick. @simonebiles see you in a few days. Can't wait for you to tuck me in again :) love yaaa pic.twitter.com/sQEUci7uaU
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) March 14, 2015
.@simonebiles this is us.
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) April 1, 2015
(I'm obviously the one sleeping) pic.twitter.com/lZkJ434XYF
.@simonebiles looks like a little baby here. I should've just picked her up and held her 😜 #ShortGirlsForLife pic.twitter.com/FXD82cscvq
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) May 5, 2015
Texting @Simone_Biles what else would you expect? (She's still being too loud) 😡😜 pic.twitter.com/wm75ML8zQi
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) October 8, 2015
She was quiet last night so I'm not annoying her today... Well... only a little 😉 @simonebiles pic.twitter.com/qhLuDpTZM3
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) October 8, 2015
When I tell @Simone_Biles to be quiet she calls me "grandma" 😡 meant to say "go to the other side of the room" 😂 pic.twitter.com/PvWulKVXGW
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) October 11, 2015
during the day we get along ❤️ @Aly_Raisman #WGC2015 pic.twitter.com/xcRhNedOxk
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) October 18, 2015
Momma Aly and baby Simone pic.twitter.com/3tiITFt11e
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) October 26, 2015
