Aly Raisman’s Parents React to Viral Video Fame

It was the "stick it!" heard round the world. On Sunday, during the artistic women’s gymnastics qualifiers, NBC brilliantly focused a camera on wildly animated Olympic parents Rick and Lynn Raisman as they watched their daughter Alexandra compete on bars.

Considered the rock of the team, Aly’s performance was nothing short of solid, and the video capturing her parents' roller coaster ride of emotions became the stuff of internet legend.

Aly herself weighed in on the video on her twitter account retweeting several news outlets who’d covered the clip and commented simply, “I love my parents.” When most teens would've been mortified by their parent’s behavior, it was a refreshing change of pace to see the 18-year-old captain enthused.

On Tuesday morning before the team finals, Natalie Morales of the Today Show caught up with Rick and Lynn for a response to seeing themselves blowing up on the internet. Rick described the experience as “embarrassing”, and his wife Lynn confessed to being unaware of how fidgety she was in her seat. Watch the interview below.

In a high stakes sport where tenths of a point can separate a gymnast from a medal around her neck and crushing heartbreak, it’s always great to see genuine emotion and reactions from an athlete’s family. Raisman is set to compete in the all around competition on Thursday along with teammate Gabrielle Douglas, and we can hardly wait to see both sets of parents reactions as they cheer on their children.