Traditional Jewish 'Hava Nagila' helps Olympian take gold

Our take: Aly Raisman, representing the U.S. as captain of the women's "Fab Five" gymnastics team, took the Olympic gold medal for the all-around women's gymnastics competition. Raisman, who is Jewish, chose to compete to the traditional Jewish melody "Hava Nagila" an unusual choice, but one that represented her faith. According to Raisman, she not only wanted to encourage audience participation, but also she wanted to show her pride in her faith because of her status as an elite Jewish athlete.

Aly Raisman, captain of The Fab Five, was the last competitor in the last obstacle standing between them and gold: the floor exercise.

As a familiar musical tune sounded throughout the arena, the audience clapped along with the cheery, traditional melody, supporting and encouraging the 18-year-old with shouts and smiles.

And, as we all know, Raisman nailed it, delivering 75 nearly flawless seconds of performance, says TheLedger.com, and sealing her teams place in first for the all-around womens gymnastics at the 2012 London Olympics.

Wait a minute familiar music? Traditional melody?

Read more about Aly Raisman on Galesburg Register-Mail.