Olympian Aly Raisman Places First On DWTS, Olympic Teammates Watched

Aly Raisman had some special guests during her performance at Dancing With The Stars Monday night. Her former Olympic teammates, Kyla Ross and Gabby Douglas attended the April 8 episode to cheer on Raisman. She placed first in the episode with partner, Mark Ballas.

The Olympian performed a contemporary routine with Ballas, set to the song “Titanium” by David Guetta. The theme for the evening was the best year of the contestant’s lives and Raisman chose the 2012 Olympics as that experience.

In addition to the “best year” theme, each contestant from last night had to perform a solo act during the routine.

In an interview with USA Today, Raisman said, “I’m excited that this is the show they’ll be at because it’s all about the Olympics.”

DWTS judge, Bruno Tonioli was very much impressed with Raisman’s performance. “Forget about the titanium, you are going for gold,” said Bruno.

Raisman and Ballas received a 27 out of 30 from the judges, putting them on first place. Former frontrunner, Zendaya and partner, Valentin Chmerkovkiy and contestant Kellie Pickler and partner David Hough were right behind Raisman and Ballas; both pairs earned a 26 out of 30 score from the judges.

Contestant Victor Ortiz and his partner, Lindsay Arnold as well as Lisa Vanderpump, who fainted during one of her practices for this routine, partner Gleb Savchenko tied for last place with a score of 18 out of 30.

According to Raisman, in an interview with USA Today, she hopes to integrate some of her dancing skills to her gymnastics in the future. She said, ““I'm excited to bring some cool moves I've learned on the show to my floor routine.”

During the best year routine, she was particularly focused in impressing Carrie Ann Inaba.

"I want to impress Carrie Ann [Inaba]," Raisman said in an interview just before the show. She wanted to prove to Carrie Ann that she’s giving it her all. "She [Carrie Ann] said I held back the first week and that I went out of character last week, so I don't want her to think that again this week."

The former Olympian was the captain of the American women’s gymnastics team for the London 2012 Olympics. She received a gold medal for her floor routine.