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Aleah Finnegan

Filipino-American artistic gymnast (born 2003) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aleah Cruz Finnegan (born January 4, 2003) is a Filipino-American artistic gymnast. Born in the United States, she represents the Philippines internationally and competed for her country of birth in the past. She was a member of the United States' women's national gymnastics team from 2019 to 2021 and was part of the team that won gold at the 2019 Pan American Games. She is the first Filipina gymnast in over 60 years to qualify and represent the Philippines at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She is the 2023 Asian Championships vault and balance beam bronze medalist and the 2021 Southeast Asian Games team and vault champion. She also competed for the LSU Tigers gymnastics team and is the 2024 NCAA floor exercise champion.

FullnameAleah Cruz Finnegan[fn 1]
Born (2003-01-04) January 4, 2003 (age 23)[2][3]
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.[2]
Height5 ft 4 in (163 cm)[4]
Quick facts Personal information, Full name ...
Aleah Finnegan
Finnegan in 2024
Personal information
Full nameAleah Cruz Finnegan[fn 1]
Born (2003-01-04) January 4, 2003 (age 23)[2][3]
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.[2]
Height5 ft 4 in (163 cm)[4]
Gymnastics career
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented
Philippines Philippines
(2022–present)
Former countries represented
United States United States
(2019–2021)
College team
LSU Tigers (2022–25)
GymGreat American Gymnastics Express
Head coach
Al Fong
Assistant coach
Armine Barutyan
Medal record
Women's artistic gymnastics
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Pan American Games 1 0 0
Asian Championships 0 0 2
Southeast Asian Games 3 2 1
Total 4 2 3
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2019 LimaTeam
Representing  Philippines
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – third place2023 SingaporeVault
Bronze medal – third place2023 SingaporeBalance beam
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2021 VietnamTeam
Gold medal – first place2021 VietnamVault
Gold medal – first place2025 ThailandVault
Silver medal – second place2021 VietnamAll-around
Silver medal – second place2021 VietnamBalance beam
Bronze medal – third place2025 ThailandBalance beam
Representing Louisiana State Tigers
NCAA Championships
Gold medal – first place2024 Fort WorthTeam
Gold medal – first place2024 Fort WorthFloor exercise
Silver medal – second place2023 Fort WorthFloor exercise
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Early life

Finnegan was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Don and Linabelle Finnegan. She has three sisters, including Sarah, Hannah, and Jennah.[5] Their mother was born in the Philippines and was a resident of Caloocan City before moving to the United States at age 19 as a college student.[6]

Finnegan began gymnastics in 2005 and moved with her family to Kansas City in 2008 to train at Great American Gymnastics Express.[7]

Gymnastics career

Level 10: 2016–2017

Finnegan was a Junior Olympic athlete and competed at the 2016 and 2017 J.O Nationals. In 2016, she placed 29th in the all-around and seventh on the balance beam.[8] In 2017, she won gold in the all-around for the Junior-B division.[9]

Junior elite: 2018

In 2018, Finnegan qualified to junior elite at Brestyan's National Qualifier.[10] She made her elite debut at the American Classic in July where she finished sixth in the all-around but won bronze on the balance beam.[11] Later that month, she competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she placed seventh in the all-around.[12] In August, she competed at her first National Championships where she placed 14th in the all-around, fourth on vault, 18th on uneven bars and balance beam, and 15th on floor exercise.[13][14]

Representing the United States: 2019–2021

Finnegan turned senior in 2019. In February, she was named to the team to compete at the International Gymnix in Montreal alongside Alyona Shchennikova, Sloane Blakely, and GAGE teammate Kara Eaker.[15] While there, she won gold in the team final and on vault; she received the fifth highest score in the all-around but did not place due to teammates Eaker and Shchennikova placing higher.[16] In June 2019, Finnegan was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team to compete at the 2019 Pan American Games.[17] At the 2019 GK US Classic, Finnegan placed seventh in the all-around. She also placed second on vault behind Jade Carey, twelfth on uneven bars, tenth on balance beam, and seventh on floor exercise. After the competition, she was named to the team to compete at the Pan American Games alongside Eaker, Morgan Hurd, Riley McCusker, and Leanne Wong.[18]

At the 2019 Pan American Games Finnegan competed on vault and floor, with both her scores contributing towards the USA's gold medal winning performance. Individually, Finnegan qualified to the vault final in fourth, behind Ellie Black of Canada, Yesenia Ferrera of Cuba, and Martina Dominici of Argentina. She also posted the fourth highest floor exercise score in the competition, but because teammates McCusker and Eaker scored higher than her, she was unable to compete in the final due to the two-per-country rule.[19][20] On the first day of event finals, it was announced that Finnegan had withdrawn from the vault final due to injury.[21][22]

Finnegan at the 2021 U.S. National Championships

At the 2019 National Championships, Finnegan finished thirteenth in the all-around. She also placed fourth on vault, thirteenth on uneven bars, fifteenth on balance beam, and sixth on floor exercise.[23] She was not named to the national team, but it was announced that she would receive an invite to the Worlds selection camp.[24] Finnegan competed at the U.S. World Championship trials on only the balance beam, receiving a score of 13.200, finishing twelfth on the event.[25] She was not named to the World Championship team after the trials.[26]

After the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games, Finnegan had surgery to fix a fracture in the navicular bone.[27] In November 2020, she signed her National Letter of Intent with Louisiana State University.[28]

In May 2021, Finnegan competed at the 2021 GK U.S. Classic, finishing fifth in the all-around behind Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Kayla DiCello, and Grace McCallum. Additionally, she placed seventh on both the balance beam and floor exercise.[29] The following month, she competed at the 2021 National Championships. She finished twenty-third in the all-around after falling during three of the four apparatuses on the first night of competition. As a result, she was not selected to compete at the Olympic Trials.[30] Finnegan announced her retirement from elite gymnastics on June 11, intending to continue competing at the NCAA level with the LSU Tigers.[31]

Representing the Philippines: 2022–2025

In March 2022, it was revealed that Finnegan had decided to represent the Philippines in international competitions.[32] The nationality change was approved by the International Gymnastics Federation in May of that year.[33] At the 2021 Southeast Asian Games (postponed to 2022), she led the Filipino team to first place in the team competition. Individually she placed second in the all-around behind Rifda Irfanaluthfi of Indonesia. She also won gold on vault and silver on balance beam and placed fifth on the uneven bars.[34]

Finnegan (second from left) meeting President Bongbong Marcos

Finnegan competed at the 2023 Asian Championships. On the first day of competition, she helped the Philippines finish fifth as a team, and individually she finished sixth in the all-around. As a result, she qualified as an individual to compete at the 2023 World Championships.[35] During event finals, she won bronze on both vault and balance beam and finished fourth on floor exercise.[36][37] At the World Championships, Finnegan finished 32nd in the all-around, making her the second reserve for the all-around final. Additionally, she qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics as an individual.[38][39]

Finnegan competed at the 2024 Olympic Games alongside fellow Filipina-Americans Levi Ruivivar and Emma Malabuyo. They were the first female Filipina artistic gymnasts to compete at the Olympics since Evelyn Magluyan competed at the 1964 Games.[40] During qualifications Finnegan finished 47th in the all-around. Additionally she finished seventeenth on vault, the highest vault placement for a Filipina gymnast at the Olympics.[41][42]

In 2025, Finnegan competed at the World Championships. She competed in the all-around, scoring 49.299 and placing 33rd in qualifications.[43]

NCAA gymnastics career

2021–2022 season

Competing for the LSU Tigers, Finnegan made her collegiate debut on January 28 in a meet against Georgia. She only competed on the balance beam where she scored a 9.875.[44] She competed on balance beam at the SEC Championships, finishing seventh with a score of 9.925.[45]

2022–2023 season

On February 3, 2023, in a meet against Georgia, Finnegan earned her first career perfect 10 for the LSU Tigers on the floor exercise.[46] The following week, she earned her second perfect 10 on vault against Auburn, winning the all-around ahead of Sunisa Lee with a score of 39.8.[47] On February 17, Finnegan scored a perfect 10 for the third week in a row, this time on the balance beam, helping LSU upset the No. 2 Florida Gators.[48] At the SEC Championships, she scored 9.950 on the floor exercise and finished in second place.[49] She also finished second on floor exercise at the NCAA Championships.[50]

2023–2024 season

On February 16, Finnegan earned her fifth career perfect 10 on floor exercise in a meet against Auburn. The following week, she scored another perfect 10 on the event in an away meet against Florida.[51] At the SEC Championships, Finnegan contributed scores on vault, balance beam and floor exercise, helping LSU win the SEC conference title.[52] During the NCAA Championship semifinals, she won an individual national title on floor exercise with a score of 9.9625 and helped LSU advance to the final.[53] During the championship final, Finnegan scored a 9.9125 on floor exercise followed by a 9.8375 on vault. In the last rotation, she anchored the Tigers on the balance beam with a 9.950, clinching LSU's first national championship title in program history.[54][55]

2024–2025 season

On March 7, Finnegan scored a perfect 10 on balance beam in a meet against Georgia. At the SEC Championships, Finnegan scored 39.6750 to help the Tigers win their sixth team title, defeating the second place Oklahoma Sooners and the third place Florida Gators. Finnegan tied for first on the balance beam after scoring 9.9250, sharing the title with teammate Haleigh Bryant and Oklahoma's Faith Torrez.[56] During the NCAA Championship semifinals, she scored 38.8625 in the all-around, helping LSU place fifth in the team competition. She also placed fifth on floor exercise.[57][58]

Personal life

Aleah Finnegan's sisters would also become competitive gymnasts. Sarah was an alternate for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, and Hannah competed for the Philippines at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games.[5] Their father died in August 2019.[59]

Competitive history

More information Year, Event ...
Competitive history of Aleah Finnegan representing the United States United States
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2016 J.O. National Championships287
2017 J.O. National Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)132nd place, silver medalist(s)5
2018 Brestyan's National Qualifier3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
American Classic (jr)65153rd place, bronze medalist(s)5
U.S. Classic (jr)751677
U.S. National Championships (jr)144181815
2019 International Gymnix1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
U.S. Classic72nd place, silver medalist(s)12107
Pan American Games1st place, gold medalist(s)WD
U.S. National Championships13413156
Worlds Team Selection Camp12
2021 U.S. Classic51577
U.S. National Championships23231814
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More information Year, Event ...
Competitive history of Aleah Finnegan representing the Philippines Philippines
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2022 Southeast Asian Games1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)52nd place, silver medalist(s)
2023
Asian Championships563rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)4
World ChampionshipsR2
2024
Olympic Games47
2025
World Championships33
Southeast Asian Games1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
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More information Year, Event ...
Competitive history of Aleah Finnegan representing the LSU Tigers
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2022 SEC Championships57
2023 SEC Championships3rd place, bronze medalist(s)472862nd place, silver medalist(s)
NCAA Championship452nd place, silver medalist(s)
2024 SEC Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)132041
NCAA Championship1st place, gold medalist(s)241st place, gold medalist(s)
2025 SEC Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)651st place, gold medalist(s)11
NCAA Championships5201435545
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Collegiate stats

Career perfect 10.0

More information Season, Date ...
SeasonDateEventMeet
2023February 3, 2023Floor ExerciseLSU vs Georgia
February 10, 2023VaultLSU @ Auburn
February 17, 2023Balance BeamLSU vs Florida
February 24, 2023Floor ExerciseLSU @ Alabama
2024February 16, 2024LSU vs Auburn
February 23, 2024LSU @ Florida
April 4, 2024Arkansas Regional Semifinal
2025 March 7, 2025 Balance Beam LSU vs Georgia
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[50]

Regular season rankings

More information Season, All-Around ...
SeasonAll-AroundVaultUneven BarsBalance BeamFloor Exercise
2022N/AN/AN/A42nd108th
202312th30th75th6th4th
2024N/A77thN/A36th9th
20258th10th45th9th14th
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See also

Notes

  1. Although born in the United States, Aleah Finnegan still possesses her mother's maiden name (Cruz) as is the convention in the Philippines as indicated on her birth record.[1]

References

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