Balancing ActGymnast Alicia Sacramone endured ecstasy and agony during her Olympic career. Now retired from competiton at 21, she's ready for her second act.
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Boston Herald reported The Sopranos actor Vincent Pastore was so "smitten" with Sacramone—with whom he filmed a TV spot for the city's posh Strega restaurant— that he may hire her to play a Mafia princess in his upcoming film Fish Out of Water . Get Active: What's a typical day for you like now? AS: It depends. I've been traveling a lot lately. Especially if I have to go back home to Boston, like for [a recent children's hospital] charity event … I'm kind of cross-promoting everything. I'm trying to do the (clothing) line and I'm trying to do choreography (training). And I'm still doing some coaching for USA Gymnastics. So I'm all over the place. I feel and work better when I have more things going on. If I'm just doing one thing, it gets to the point where I obsess and I go crazy. I like having options. If I have the opportunity, I might as well do it now.
GA: Your life was a roller coaster between the '04 U.S. Nationals and the '08 Olympics. AS: That's the best way to describe it. I knew it wasn't gonna be easy, going back into competing (after 2004), but in my mind my goal ultimately was the Olympics. We had a lot of great highs and a couple of really bad lows. In the end, I still accomplished my dream, which was making it there and representing the United States. You know, wasn't my best competition, but it was the best competition I could do at that time.
GA: Were you trying to redeem your 2004 experience in Beijing? AS: I was definitely trying to prove myself. I stuck around for those four years, and I felt it was my time to show everybody that I was a contender for the Games, and medals and being a good team captain for my girls. So I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself to do the absolute best. It didn't come out the absolute best, but it was still pretty great.
GA: What kept you from breaking down in Beijing during the Jumbotron's lingering close-ups after your costly mistakes were broadcast the world over? As team captain, did you feel you had to stay composed for your teammates? AS: I knew they were looking to me, and I had to stay strong for them. And as much as I did want to go hide under the podium and cry my eyes out, I knew I couldn't. So I kinda bit my tongue and held it in. As soon as we walked out after awards, one of our divers who'd come down to watch, I saw him in the hallway and lost it. He said, "Alicia, I have that memory of your face burned inside my brain, and it makes me so sad every time I think about it." (Laughs.) But my teammates were very supportive and helped me get through those last couple of days. I was close with the whole team. We had a very unique bond. GA: After Beijing, you went from the U.S. women's gymnastics team's "social and spiritual leader" to a "tragic figure." You beat yourself up more than any journalist or commentator could. Have you found inner peace yet about the whole experience? AS: It just gets better with time. I'm still a little bit like, "Oooh." They kind of overexaggerate though with the "tragic figure" thing. I mean, c'mon. I'm like, "I'm walking out with all of my limbs. I think it was a good day."
GA: You mentioned before Beijing that you might retire, given your body's battle wounds. Tell us about some of your injuries over the years. AS: I had a bulging disc in my back. I was 16 and in driver's ed in one of those back braces all summer. I was sweating—it was horrible. I got it after (U.S. National) Championships (in 2004). I was in so much pain, I couldn't even open a door. I could turn my arm and hurt my back. It was crazy. I couldn't even watch the Olympics. At that point, I was kind of over it. I was, like, so bitter. (Laughs.) GA: How did you recover from your ankle injury while training for Beijing? AS: Coming back from that was really hard. A couple of cortisone shots and I was ice bucketing it two or three times a day. I literally had a cankle until maybe last January. After the Olympics, my orthopedic was like, "You need to not do anything." And I was like, "I'm kind of going on tour." But for three months, (I did) nothing. And I still had damage and swelling till last January. My body was, like, "You definitely need a rest." GA: Cankle or no cankle, the sentence "Alicia Sacramone is hot" was one of Google's most popular searches last year. AS: (Laughs.) I thought, that's kind of cool. I got Googled a lot. But then I was, like, "Wait a minute. Who's Googling me? Oh, no." (Laughs.) You have to take it with a grain of salt.
GA: You're known for your muscular curves, especially in the blogosphere. As you flex your creative muscles, does the lasting focus on your body bother you? AS: Not really. Every now and then someone will say, "Oh, you have the best traps." I'm like, "Uhhh … thank you?" What do you say to that? (Laughs.) And they're like, "Well, how did you get them?" There's not one particular thing I did to get my traps look like this.
GA: You were called your team's "powerhouse." Did you want to be the strongest girl? AS: Oh, no. I think that's just genes. My coach [Mihai Brestyan] is also very, very smart when it came to conditioning me and getting me in shape and strong. I owe a lot of that to him. The way his mind worked, the could think of abstract ways for me to get in shape without killing my body.
GA: Describe your workout in the months leading to Beijing. AS: Pre-Olympics it was insane. Six days a week, between six to seven hours a day. Go in in the morning for three hours. Do sports med for an hour. Go home for two hours. Then go back for another three. I just lived, breathed and slept gymnastics. It was all conditioning; no weights.
GA: What's your workout like now? Are you able to fit in fitness? AS: Yeah. But mostly I just eat healthy. Because my body is still pretty beat up, it is hard for me to workout. Like, I can't run because I have bad knees. But I do cardio, like riding the bike or doing elliptical. And I still do some strength stuff. Now I'm starting to use weights—I don't know what to do with them! But it's a lot of core stuff to keep my body conditioned. In case I do decide I want to come back, I do still have some form. GA: Tell us about your diet. When you were training, could you eat as much ice cream as you wanted and then just burn it all off a la Michael Phelps? AS: Oh, definitely not. We (gymnasts) don't eat a lot. For one thing, you don't want to feel heavy and sick when you're training. All of that flipping doesn't mix well with heavy foods. You make that mistake once and you'll never do it again. We always ate pretty healthy, like lots of fruit and vegetables, salads and lean protein like chicken. Every now and then I'd have a piece of chocolate. When I was younger I think my diet was more of an issue. I'd want to eat whatever and whenever I wanted.
GA: How tough has it been to project a healthy body image with the media and public critiquing female gymnasts' looks from head to toe? AS: People forget that we're just normal girls. They think that we're made of stone. Like you can say things that are hurtful to us and that we don't get affected by it. But we do. Even when I was dating my boyfriend (Brown University football player Eric Hunt), people would say things about me to him. He's like, "I got into one or two fights because of you." And I was like, "Oh, my God." (The media spotlight) definitely took its toll on our relationship.
GA: But you're resilient. To come back the way you did after 2004—how have these experiences prepared you for careers in fashion and/or entertainment? AS: Gymnastics definitely made my skin very thick. So I think it was definitely a good foundation for me to have before coming out here. I can take a lot. You can say a lot of stuff to me and it really won't phase me.
GA: Look out, Hollywood. Is hosting a TV series your ultimate goal? AS: I definitely don't want to rule anything out. I want to try everything. I have that kind of personality where I'll give everything a shot once. We'll see how it goes. I think TV would be really cool, because I'm not a very shy person and I feel comfortable in front of a camera. Because usually I'm only wearing a leotard, so now that I'm dressed it's so much easier. (Laughs.)
