Two-time world medalist. Shopaholic. Winner of three Olympic medals. Justin Bieber fan. Captain of women’s gymnastics Olympic gold medal team. Recent graduate of Massachusetts’ Needham High School. Jewish teenager. 

Alexandra Raisman is the definition of a normal teenage girl, except for one fact: she is a world-famous gymnast. Known to her fans as Aly, this young gymnast has accomplished more in 18 years than many have in a lifetime.

Currently, Raisman is touring with the rest of the Olympic men and women’s gymnastics teams on the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions. The tour stopped at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on Oct. 19, where most of the Olympic gymnasts performed a routine, including Aly’s floor routine.

However, Raisman’s choice of floor routine music represents more than her musical tastes. In addition to becoming world-renowned as an Olympic champion at the 2012 London Games, Raisman takes pride in her Jewish roots. She performed her gold-medal floor routine to the well-known Jewish tune “Hava Nagila.” When choosing her floor routine music, Raisman found herself with a multitude of options, but when she came across “Hava Nagila,” she knew the song would be perfect.

“I just wanted a song everyone could clap to and people could relate to,” Raisman has said in previous interviews.

Her song choice offered exactly that for aspiring Jewish gymnast Sydney Smith, a member of United Hebrew Congregation and 8th grader at Parkway Central Middle School who does gymnastics at Xcel Gymnastics.

“I love her floor music because it gets the whole crowd in and then they realize it’s a Jewish song,” Sydney said.

As a Jewish teen gymnast herself, Sydney sees Raisman as an inspiring example of a successful Jewish gymnast whom she can relate to and admire as a role model.

“It is really cool that she is one of the few Jewish gymnasts that got to go to the Olympics and it makes me think that I can follow my dreams, too,” Sydney said.

Marquette High School freshman Dani Kolker, a member of Congregation Shaare Emeth, is a gymnast at Olympiad Chesterfield. Like Sydney, Dani appreciates Raisman’s role as an example for Jewish gymnasts.

“There’s never been a famous Jewish gymnast in my life,” Dani said. “I look up to her and want to be like her.”

Even now that the Olympics have concluded, Raisman remains a prominent figure for Jewish gymnasts everywhere, having been among the very few who qualified for the Olympics. After  Raisman the most well-known Jewish gymnast is Kerri Strug, a participant in the 1996 Olympics, who stuck her famous vault on one foot. Both girls had something in common: they worked hard to achieve their dreams and helped lead their teams to an Olympic gold medal.

“She shows not only me, but everyone, that no matter what religion you are, you can do anything you want to,” Sydney said.