Aly Raisman Comeback: Olympic Gymnast Delivers Impressive Performance In Quest For 2016 Rio Spot

Aly Raiman’s comeback quest continued over the weekend as the Olympic gymnast competed in the U.S. Women’s National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both Raisman and Gabby Douglas are battling to reestablish themselves as contenders after some long breaks from key competitions. How did Aly and Gabby do?

As NBC Sports details, Simone Biles was the big winner in the weekend’s P&G Championships. Biles earned her third straight U.S. all-around title after several best-ever scores in multiple events. Biles is considered a favorite for the 2016 Rio Olympics all-around gold medal. While she may be the frontrunner, there are some other established gymnasts hoping to score a spot for Rio as well.

Both Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman’s comeback attempts earned them respectable results at this latest competition. Neither gymnast had competed in Nationals for the past three years, and they earned third and fifth place finishes. Both ladies seemed relieved and fairly satisfied at the end of the competition. Maggie Nichols took second place, while Bailie Key took fourth.

Yahoo! Sports details that Aly Raisman’s comeback bid hit a snag early in the competition when she lost her balance during her beam routine. Raisman ran into another obstacle when she took a big step during her vault landing. As for Gabby Douglas’ events, she pushed through several beam bobbles during her routine, and she had a slight hop during her landing.

Both Aly and Gabby turned in strong final routines to grab hold of solid overall finishes. Raisman notes that Thursday’s fall gave her a bit of a wake-up call and she knew she needed to be more aggressive.

This P&G Championship was the first step in the ladies’ efforts to pave the way to Rio. In two months, a six-woman team will head to Glasgow, Scotland, for the World Championships. Biles is expected to lead the way on that team, but Raisman and Douglas aim to be there, as well. The team will be announced in October.

Both Olympic gymnasts say they know what they need to do over the next couple of months to make the World Championship team. Will Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman’s comeback plans get them where they want to be? Fans are rooting for them, and can’t wait to see how things play out over these next couple of months.

During their time away from serious competition, Aly Raisman tackled a season of Dancing With the Stars, and Gabby Douglas graduated from high school. Now, however, their focus is back on gymnastics, and they’ve got lofty goals.

It’s not easy for a female gymnast to hit back-to-back Olympic teams, notes PressBox. However, Aly Raisman’s comeback is engineered with a goal to do just that. Gabby Douglas has indicated she’s aiming to head back to Rio, as well, and based on this latest competition, it certainly appears that both women have a solid shot of making it happen.

[Photo by Joe Robbins / Getty Images]