Tonya Paulsson

Swedish artistic gymnast From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tonya Helene Paulsson (Chinese: 陳瑞安; born 28 August 2003) is a Swedish and Taiwanese artistic gymnast. She currently represents Chinese Taipei in international competition and previously represented Sweden until 2024. She is the 2019 and 2020 Swedish national champion, and she represented Sweden at the 2018 Youth Olympics, where she was part of the Mixed NOC team who won bronze in the mixed multi-discipline team competition. Representing Chinese Taipei, she is the 2025 World University Games all-around bronze medalist and balance beam silver medalist. She is currently competing for the California Golden Bears in NCAA gymnastics.

FullnameTonya Helene Paulsson
Alternative name
Chen Rui-an[1]
Born (2003-08-28) 28 August 2003 (age 22)
Quick facts Personal information, Full name ...
Tonya Paulsson
陳瑞安
Paulsson at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games
Personal information
Full nameTonya Helene Paulsson
Alternative name
Chen Rui-an[1]
Born (2003-08-28) 28 August 2003 (age 22)
Gymnastics career
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Country
represented
Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei
(2025–present)
Former countries represented
Sweden Sweden
(2016–2024)
College team
California Golden Bears[2]
ClubGK Motus-Salto
Head coach
Janie Ahlstrom / Frederic Pierreville
Medal record
Women's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Chinese Taipei
World University Games
Silver medal – second place2025 Rhine-RuhrBalance beam
Bronze medal – third place2025 Rhine-RuhrAll-around
Representing  Sweden
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Challenge Cup 2 1 0
Total 2 1 0
Representing International Olympic Committee Mixed-NOCs
Youth Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2018 Buenos AiresMixed team
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Early life

Paulsson was born in Malmö in 2003.[3] Her mother is originally from Taiwan.[4] Paulsson began gymnastics at the age of eight in 2010, after her gymnastics coach neighbor noticed her flexibility and agility on the local playground.[5][6]

Gymnastics career

2016

Paulsson competed at the Unni & Haralds Trophy in Oslo where she finished fourth in the all-around but won gold on uneven bars.[7] The following month Paulsson competed at the Nordic Championships where she was limited to only competing on the uneven bars due to a knee injury. Despite the injury she helped Sweden finish first in the junior division.[8] She next competed at the Swedish National Championships. She once again only competed on uneven bars but managed to finish first amongst the juniors.[9]

2017

Paulsson competed at a team selection competition for the 2017 Junior Nordic Championships where she placed first in the all-around ahead of Jessica Castles and she also recorded the highest scores on vault and uneven bars.[10] At the Junior Nordic Championships Paulsson helped Sweden finish in third place. Individually she finished sixteenth in the all-around but won gold on uneven bars.[11] In June she competed at the Flanders International Team Challenge where she helped Sweden finish ninth.[12]

In late June Paulsson competed at the Swedish National Championships where she won silver in the all-around behind Ida Staafgård, silver on vault behind Castles, gold on uneven bars, bronze on balance beam behind Staafgård and Castles, and fourth on floor exercise.[13] In November Paulsson competed at the Swedish Cup where she finished first amongst the juniors. During event finals she finished second on vault, first on uneven bars, third on balance beam, and fifth on floor exercise.[14] She ended the season competing at the Top Gym Tournament where she finished tenth in the team competition, seventeenth in the all-around, thirteenth on vault, sixth on uneven bars.[15]

2018

Paulsson competed at the Youth Olympic Qualifier[16] where she finished in twelfth place and qualified Sweden for a spot at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.[17] She next competed at the Nordic Championships where she helped Sweden finish second behind Norway. Individually she won silver in the all-around behind Mari Kanter of Norway, gold on uneven bars, and bronze on floor exercise. She finished sixth on balance beam.[18] She next competed at the Swedish National Championships where she placed first in the all-around, on uneven bars, on balance beam, and on floor exercise.[19] Paulsson competed at the European Championships but failed to qualify for any event finals. Paulsson was selected to represent Sweden at the 2018 Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires.[20] While there she qualified for the all-around and uneven bars finals.[21] During the all-around final she placed seventh.[22] During the uneven bars final she once again placed seventh.

Paulsson at the 2018 Youth Olympics

2019

Paulsson turned senior in 2019. She competed at the Swedish National Championships where she won gold in all-around and silver on uneven bars behind Jonna Adlerteg.[23] She next competed at the Heerenveen Friendly where she finished seventeenth in the all-around. She ended the season competing at the Mälar Cup where she finished second behind Alva Eriksson in the all-around and on floor exercise. Additionally she tied for second with Eriksson on uneven bars behind Iida Haapala. She finished first on balance beam.[24]

2020

In October Paulsson competed at the Swedish National Championships where she was able to retain her national title from the previous year. Additionally she won gold on balance beam and floor exercise and won silver on uneven bars behind Jonna Adlerteg.[25]

2021

Paulsson competed at the European Championships where she qualified to the all-around final; she placed 14th. In September Paulsson was selected to compete at the World Championships alongside Nathalie Westlund and Jennifer Williams.[26]

2024

Paulsson contemplated quitting at the beginning of the year, but she decided to continue competing and began to pursue a switch in country to represent Taiwan.[27]

In May, Paulsson competed at the European Championships. Due to recovering from a knee injury, she only competed on the uneven bars.[28]

Paulsson competed at the World Cup in Szombathely, Hungary in October. There she won silver on the uneven bars as well as gold on the balance beam and floor. She said that she was proud of her floor performance as that was her main focus for he competition.[28] She also committed to attending the University of California, Berkeley as a collegiate gymnast beginning in the fall of 2025.[29]

In November, Paulsson announced that she planned to switch her country representation from Sweden to Taiwan, her mother's home country. She said that she had lost trust in the leadership of Sweden's national team.[4] A week later, she clarified that her training style did not work well with that expected at the national training center, which she visited periodically, and that she did not feel that she was treated properly there. She also said that she had received racist comments after announcing her country change, which the Swedish Gymnastics Federation denounced.[27]

2025

In February 2025, Paulsson's nationality change was confirmed by the International Gymnastics Federation.[30] Her performance in the National Intercollegiate Games from 27 April to 1 May 2025 qualified Paulsson for a position on Chinese Taipei's national gymnastics roster.[5]

Collegiate gymnastics career

2025–2026

In her first season of NCAA gymnastics, Paulsson was placed on the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association Regular Season All-America team, earning first-team honors on uneven bars and second-team honors in the all-around.[31] She won the ACC Newcomer of the Year award. At the 2026 ACC Championships, Paulsson won the all-around title, becoming the first freshman to do so.[32]

Regular season ranking

More information Season, All-around ...
Season All-around Vault Uneven bars Balance beam Floor exercise
2026[33] 15th153rd5th91st35th
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Competitive history

Representing Sweden

More information Year, Event ...
Competitive history of Tonya Paulsson at the junior level
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2016 Unni & Haralds Trophy41st place, gold medalist(s)
Nordic Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)
National Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017 Nordic Team Selections1st place, gold medalist(s)
Nordic Championships3rd place, bronze medalist(s)161st place, gold medalist(s)
FIT Team Challenge9
Swedish Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)4
Swedish Cup1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)5
Top Gym Tournament1017136
2018 Youth Olympic Qualifier12
Nordic Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)6
Swedish Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Youth Olympic Games3rd place, bronze medalist(s)[a]77
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  1. The teams were randomly assigned with gymnasts from different countries and disciplines
More information Year, Event ...
Competitive history of Tonya Paulsson at the senior level
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2019 National Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Heerenveen Friendly17
Mälar Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2020 National Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
2021
European Championships14
Osijek Challenge Cup75
FIT Challenge731
World Championships35
2022
European Championships26
World Championships18
2023
European Championships1014
2024
European Championships8
Szombathely Challenge Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
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Representing Chinese Taipei

More information Year, Event ...
Competitive history of Tonya Paulsson at the senior level
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2025
Asian Championships44586
World University Games63rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)4
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See also

References

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