In the first night of competition at the Visa U.S. Gymnastics Championships Thursday, two Boston based gymnasts brought their A game.
Winchester's Alicia Sacramone and Needham's Aly Raisman competed in the senior women's preliminary round Thursday night. The two train out of Brestyan's Gymnastics in Burlington, MA. Raisman competed four events and sits in second place all-around after preliminaries. She was one of the most steady gymnasts on a night full of falls from her main competitors, with no major falls.
Sacramone, one of the oldest competitors at 23 (yes, the majority of the competitors are in the 16-18 age range in a women's event), competed in three events and took second on balance beam and first on vault. The height on her tumbling caused her to step out of bounds and fall on floor exercise, a typically strong event for her. Sacramone is the reigning world vault champion, and is one of the most decorated gymnasts in American history.
Sacramone's beam and vault successes came the same day she was announced as the first gymnast to be endorsed by Under Armour. Sacramone now joins New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady as a face of the sports apparel line.
Both Reisman and Sacramone will take the floor again Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota to determine the all-around national champion and individual event titles.