Comebacks are not easy—especially for elite athletes—and it's even more difficult for top gymnasts. Gymnasts are used to working out six days a week for long hours each day. Taking several years off from this sort of schedule makes coming back a difficult task.

But Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas are two gymnasts who have done just that. After winning multiple medals at the 2012 Olympics, both took well-deserved time off before returning to the gym. Coming back is a huge process for a gymnast, and getting back into shape with conditioning is the first step. That's followed by honing skills, and later, adding new skills.

A new quadranium also brings new challenges. The Code of Points has changed, and new gymnasts have arrived on the scene, which means routines need to change as well. How have Douglas and Raisman changed their routines since 2012? Let's take a look below, starting with Raisman.

Vault - Bringing Back the Amanar

At the 2012 Olympics, Raisman performed the Amanar, which, at the time, was valued at 6.5. She performed the vault in qualification, and scored slightly below her teammates with a 15.8.

While the Amanar is now valued out of 6.3 in today’s Code, it’s still an important vault, and Team USA will want three strong vaulters on their team. Both Raisman and Douglas have been training the Amanar, but Raisman is the only one who has showed it in competition. Though she struggled a bit with form issues earlier in the year, she landed a strong vault at Classics—a 15.7:


Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics

Big Changes on Bars

Raisman has made big improvements on bars. She’s added several new connections to increase her D-score to a 6.0. One of her new connections is a toe-on with full turn connected directly into her Maloney, which is also connected directly into a Tkatchev. These add a total of 0.30 in connection value. Previously, she performed the toe-on with full turn as a stand-alone skill, and the Maloney was connected into an overshoot, which would only give her 0.10 as opposed to the 0.20 she gets from connecting the Maloney to a Tkatchev. She also previously connected her stalder with full turn into her Tkatchev for a total of 0.10. She keeps that 0.10 in her current routine by now performing the stalder with full turn on the low bar, directly connected out of her overshoot.

Beam - Same skills, new connections

Balance beam has always been one of Raisman’s stronger events, and she won the bronze medal for her routine at the 2012 Olympics. Raisman has kept many of the same elements in her routine from 2012, but she’s added in some new connections which are more reliable for her to hit in competition.

One of the connections she has removed from her 2012 routine is the front pike into a back layout stepout, which would give her 0.1 in connection value. She missed this connection in the event finals at the Olympics. She also removed the switch half to back pike, which she sometimes had a slow connection on and would not always get credit for the 0.10 bonus. In her current routine, she’s kept the tumbling series of a back handspring to layout to two feet for 0.10, as well as the switch leap to back tuck for an additional 0.10, as well as her turn series which gives her 0.10. Her new connections include a front pike to wolf jump for 0.10, and a front tuck to split jump for another 0.10. Adding up all her skills and connections, her D-score should be a 6.5.

Maintaining a High D-score on Floor

Raisman has not only brought back most of the tough skills from her Olympic gold medal-winning floor routine, but she’s added in new skills on top of that.

She kept her signature opening floor pass of a 1 ½ twist to double arabian (an E skill) to punch front layout, which gives her 0.4 in connection value. She also kept her Dos Santos (an F skill) connected to a jump, which gives her 0.10 in connection. Her last pass of a double pike (a D skill) is the same as well.

Her third pass has been upgraded from a triple twist (an E skill) to a double layout (an F skill). She has also upgraded some of her dance skills, primarily her turn from just a full turn (an A skill) to a double turn with leg raised (a D skill). Raisman’s leap connection in 2012 was a switch ring to split leap 1 ½, and she’s changed this to a switch leap 1/1 to split jump 1/1 to sissone, performed near the end of her routine.

Raisman’s most recent start value at Classics was a 6.5, which matches her D-score from 2012. Check out the routine below:


Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics


Stay tuned for our piece breaking down Gabby Douglas's changes, coming soon!