Aly Raisman Wins Gymnastics Gold and Honors 1972 Israeli Munich Athletes

Olympic Gold Medal winning gymnast Alexandra (Aly) Raisman was a double source of nachas for the Jewish community worldwide on Tuesday when she became the first American to win the gold medal for the floor exercise in gymnastics. 

After receiving the medal, she said that it was a special victory because it came on the 40th anniversary of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972.

As Agence France-Presse reported:

Alexandra Raisman said winning a gold medal on the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre made her achievement "special" after she triumphed in the Olympic women's gymnastics floor final on Tuesday.

Raisman, who is Jewish, performed her floor routine to the backing of Hebrew folk song 'Hava Nagila' and earned a score of 15.600 points to claim her third medal of the London Games at North Greenwich Arena.

The 18-year-old American said that she had not selected the music specifically to coincide with the anniversary, but added that she was proud to have marked the occasion.

"Having that floor music wasn't intentional, but the fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special and winning the gold today means a lot to me," she said.

"If there had been a moment's silence, I would have supported it and respected it."

Here's the video of Raisman's winning performance. Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)