Aly Raisman was announced last month as the latest inspiring woman to lend her stunning looks and important message to clothing brand Aerie.
And on Saturday she made her first instore appearance for the brand, joining fellow spokeswoman Iskra Lawrence for a talk about self-love and body positivity.
The ladies showed up at the Miami location in casual wear, with Aly opening the event by naming her favorite thing about herself: ‘That I am a kind person.’
Fast friends: Gymnast Aly Raisman and model Iskra Lawrence appeared in Miami on Saturday to talk about body positivity at the launch of a new Aerie store
Show of hands: The ladies are both spokesmodels for the popular body positive clothing brand
Later in the panel, Iskra described her disbelief upon seeing herself on a billboard for the first time, remembering that it hadn’t been that long ago that she’d been with an agency who had ‘laughed at me when I wanted to move to New York.’
Iskra had been the one last month to announce Aly’s partnership with the brand, taking to the stage at the Glamour Women of the Year Live Summit.
Iskra introduced the gymnast and welcomed her into the fold of the body-positive brand.
‘If you watched the 60 Minutes last night you will know she is very courageous,’ Iskra, 27, said while welcoming Aly onto the stage.
‘I’m so proud of you and I’m so glad that I’m going to get to be friends with you and learn so much from you.’
A little addition: Aly also brought along copies of her autobiography Fierce
Smiling away: Aly started the appearance by naming the thing she loves most about herself
Posing: Aly appeared at the event in comfy casual wear and spoke to a room packed with women
Speaking about her reasons for wanting to work for the brand, Aly admitted that she was told as a young girl that ‘being an athlete wasn’t cool because muscles weren’t seen as being girly’.
‘At recess I would play kickball with the boys in my class and they would stare and laugh at my muscles, saying they were disgusting and I looked like I was on steroids,’ she went on.
‘They began calling me Roids, saying there was no way a girl could ever be that strong without taking illegal drugs. It took me a long time to learn to love my arms and my muscles. I was so embarrassed and I thought that every person I met would judge me. How wrong is that?’
It’s been a harrowing week for Aly and her Team USA teammates as the former Gymnastics doctor Larry Nasser was sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges.
Standing tall: Aly 23, was all smiles as she walked the red carpet at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Island event in Miami on Thursday
Yet on the day of the sentencing, gold medal winner Aly was all smiles as she walked the red carpet at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Island event in Miami.
Hours earlier, the petite brunette had published a victim impact statement she penned but wasn’t allowed to read in court at Nasser’s sentencing.
Titled This Is Survival, she shared her letter on The Players Tribune website.
The accomplished athlete explained: ‘I’ve chosen to open up about my experience because I want change. It is very hard and uncomfortable to talk about. I have learned that everyone copes differently. There’s no map that shows you the path to healing.’
She stressed: ‘Sexual abuse isn’t just in the moment. It is forever. Healing is forever.’
Raisman, who captained the last two USA champion gymnastics teams, revealed last month she had been abused by the team doctor. She’s pictured with one of the three gold medals she won at the London Olympics in 2012
Larry Nassar, pictured in November, was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Thursday for child pornography
Rasiman said she wasn’t allowed to read her victim impact statement in court and shared it online instead along with an introduction explaining her reasons for doing so
Then her letter to Nasser was posted in full in which she detailed how his years of abuse had affected her emotionally, mentally and physically and appealed to the judge to impose the maximum sentence on the 54-year-old medical practitioner.
Raisman, who captained the last two U.S. Olympic champion gymnastics teams, publicly revealed last month that she had been sexually abused by Nassar under the guise of treating her injuries.
She said she was 15 when she was first treated by Nasser and had no understanding that what he was ding was sexual abuse.
‘Every time I share my story, it feels like the first time. I relive years of trauma. But this is part of my truth and part of my healing. This is survival,’ she wrote in her victim impact statement.
‘Every time I share my story, it feels like the first time. I relive years of trauma. But this is part of my truth and part of my healing. This is survival,’ Raisman wrote
The petite brunette looked lovely in a long-sleeved silver mini dress with it’s light-catching shiny fabric. The scoop neck was ruffled and there were ruffles, too, on the skirt and cuffs
The stylish star wore her long hair in a high ponytail and went bare-legged in nude sandal heels
Raisman looked lovely in a long-sleeved silver mini dress with it’s light-catching shiny fabric.
The scoop neck was ruffled and there were ruffles, too, on the skirt and cuffs.
The former gymnastics star wore her long hair in a high ponytail and went bare-legged in nude sandal heels.
She had moral support at the event from Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Hannah Jeter, who earlier in the day had retweeted a link to Raisman’s This Is Survival article.