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Aly Raisman and Munich

The Olympic champion gives a shout out for Munich

by
Adam Chandler
August 08, 2012

Aly Raisman, now the most decorated of U.S. gymnasts, continues to impress–this time outside the realm of sport. In interviews following her most recent wins Raisman drew reference to the Israeli victims of the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympics. Here’s what our friends at Jewcy had to say:

She was suddenly representing Jews everywhere, and on the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre—which most Jews felt wasn’t being properly memorialized by the IOC. Raisman’s decision to address Munich, and the lack of an official moment of silence, in her post-win interviews revealed an 18-year-old far more poised and courageous than most. As they say, had she won the Olympic gold medal after performing her floor routine to “Hava Nagila” (or even just performed to that song at all, really), it would have been enough for us.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.