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 The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

. She is the first Filipina gymnast in over 60 years to qualify and represent the

Philippines at the 2024 Summer Olympics The Philippines competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024, celebrating the centenary of the team's debut in the 1924 Summer Olympics, same city. Filipino athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Ol ...

. She is the 2023 Asian Championships vault and balance beam bronze medalist and the

2021 Southeast Asian Games The 2021 Southeast Asian Games (), officially known as the 31st Southeast Asian Games, 31st SEA Games or SEA Games 31, and also recognized as Viet Nam 2021, were the 31st edition of the Southeast Asian Games, the biennial regional multi-sport e ...

team and vault champion. She also currently competes for the LSU Tigers gymnastics team and is the 2024 NCAA floor exercise champion.

Early life

Finnegan was born in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Missouri, to Don and Linabelle Finnegan. She has three sisters, including

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

, Hannah, and Jennah. 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. Finnegan began gymnastics in 2005 and moved with her family to Kansas City in 2008 to train at

Great American Gymnastics Express Great American Gymnastics Express, known also as GAGE Center or GAGE, is an American artistic gymnastics academy, located in Blue Springs, Missouri. GAGE was founded in 1979 by its present-day owner and head coach, Al Fong. Notable alumni Amon ...

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. In 2017, she won gold in the all-around for the Junior-B division.

Junior elite: 2018

In 2018, Finnegan qualified to junior elite at Brestyan's National Qualifier. 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. Later that month, she competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she placed seventh in the all-around. In August, she competed at her first

National Championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

where she placed 14th in the all-around, fourth on vault, 18th on uneven bars and balance beam, and 15th on floor exercise.

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 The International Gymnix is a major international annual gymnastics competition. It is held in Montreal, Canada, with a senior and a junior tournaments. It was organized for the first time in 1991. It is the largest international gymnastics competi ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

alongside

Alyona Shchennikova Yelena Aleksandrovna "Alyona" Shchennikova (, born May 12, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the United States women's national gymnastics team, U.S. National Team from 2017 to 2019 and was the all-around champion at the ...

Sloane Blakely Sloane Blakely (born December 23, 2002) is an American collegiate artistic gymnast and was a member of the United States women's national gymnastics team. She is currently competing for the Florida Gators in NCAA gymnastics. She is the older si ...

, and GAGE teammate

Kara Eaker Kara Eaker (born November 7, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. On the balance beam she is the 2018 Pan American and 2019 Pan American Games champion and a two-time United States national silver medalist (2018, 2019 This was the yea ...

. 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. In June 2019, Finnegan was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team to compete at the

. At the 2019 GK US Classic, Finnegan placed seventh in the all-around. She also placed second on vault behind

Jade Carey Jade Ashtyn Carey (born May 27, 2000) is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics as an individual, and at the 2024 Summer Olympics as a member of the U.S. women's team, nicknamed the "Golden Girl ...

, 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 Morgan Elizabeth Hurd (born July 18, 2001) is a retired American artistic gymnast and a five-time member of the United States women's national team (2016–21). She is the 2017 World all-around champion and balance beam silver medalist and th ...

Riley McCusker Riley Shannon McCusker (born July 9, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast and a six-time member of the United States women's national gymnastics team (2016–2021). She is the 2019 Pan American Games and 2017 United States national uneven bar ...

, and

Leanne Wong Leanne Ashley Wong (born September 20, 2003) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal winning teams at the 2022 World Championships, 2023 World Championships, and the 2019 Pan American Games. She is the 2021 Wor ...

. At the

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 Elsabeth Ann Black (born September 8, 1995) is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She is a four-time Olympian, having represented her country at the 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024 Olympic games. She is the 2017 World all-around silver medallist, makin ...

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. On the first day of event finals, it was announced that Finnegan had withdrawn from the vault final due to injury. Aleah Finnegan 2021

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. She was not named to the national team, but it was announced that she would receive an invite to the Worlds selection camp. 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. She was not named to the World Championship team after the trials. After the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games, Finnegan had surgery to fix a fracture in the

navicular bone The navicular bone is a small bone found in the feet of most mammals. Human anatomy The navicular bone in humans is one of the tarsus (skeleton), tarsal bones, found in the foot. Its name derives from the human bone's resemblance to a small ...

. In November 2020, she signed her

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

with

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. In May 2021, Finnegan competed at the 2021 GK U.S. Classic, finishing fifth in the all-around behind

Simone Biles Simone Arianne Biles Owens ( Biles; born March 14, 1997) is an American Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. Her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most decorated gymnast in history. She is widely regarded as one ...

Jordan Chiles Jordan Lucella Elizabeth Chiles (born April 15, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 2024 Summer Olympics, having previously been a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2020 Su ...

Kayla DiCello Kayla Kecia DiCello ( or or ) (born January 25, 2004) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2021 World bronze medalist and the 2023 Pan American Games champion in the all-around. On the junior level, she is the 2019 Junior World vault c ...

, and

Grace McCallum Grace Ann McCallum (born October 30, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the team event. She is the 2018 Pan American and 2018 Pacific Rim individual al ...

. Additionally, she placed seventh on both the balance beam and floor exercise. 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 Olympic trials are competitions held in certain sports to select teams' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. History Before 1908, members of United States Olympic teams were selected without trials. The 1908 and 1912 teams were s ...

. Finnegan announced her retirement from elite gymnastics on June 11, intending to continue competing at the NCAA level with the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

Representing the Philippines: 2022–2024

In March 2022, it was revealed that Finnegan had decided to represent the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in international competitions. The nationality change was approved by the

International Gymnastics Federation The International Gymnastics Federation ( French: ''Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique'', abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 ...

in May of that year. At the

(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 Rifda Irfanaluthfi (born 16 October 1999) is an Indonesian artistic gymnast. She is the 2018 Asian Games floor exercise silver medalist and a four-time SEA Games champion. She is also a three-time medalist on the FIG World Cup series. She repr ...

of Indonesia. She also won gold on vault and silver on balance beam and placed fifth on the uneven bars. Meet and Greet with the Filipino Paris Olympians 2024 08 22 2024

Meet and Greet with the Filipino Paris Olympians 2024 08 22 2024

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. During event finals, she won bronze on both vault and balance beam and finished fourth on floor exercise. 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. Finnegan competed at the

2024 Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

alongside fellow Filipina-Americans

Levi Ruivivar Levi Jung Ruivivar (born May 3, 2006) 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 qualified to represent the Philippi ...

and

Emma Malabuyo Emma Lauren Bringas Malabuyo (born November 5, 2002) 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 represented the Phil ...

. They were the first female Filipina artistic gymnasts to compete at the Olympics since Evelyn Magluyan competed at the 1964 Games. 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.

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. She competed on balance beam at the

SEC Championships The Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men's sports and thirteen women's sports. This is a list of conference champions for each sport. Also see the list of SEC national champions. Members The SEC was established in December 1932, when ...

, finishing seventh with a score of 9.925.

2022–2023 season

On February 3, 2023, in a meet against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, Finnegan earned her first career perfect 10 for the LSU Tigers on the floor exercise. The following week, she earned her second perfect 10 on vault against Auburn, winning the all-around ahead of

Sunisa Lee Sunisa "Suni" Phabsomphou Lee ( ; ; born March 9, 2003) is an American Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's artistic individual all-around, all-around gold medalist and ...

with a score of 39.8. 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 The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

. At the SEC Championships, she scored 9.950 on the floor exercise and finished in second place. She also finished second on floor exercise at the

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

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 Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. At the SEC Championships, Finnegan contributed scores on vault, balance beam and floor exercise, helping LSU win the SEC conference title. During the

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

semifinals, she won an individual national title on floor exercise with a score of 9.9625 and helped LSU advance to the final. 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.

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 The 2011 Southeast Asian Games, () officially known as the 26th Southeast Asian Games, or the 26th SEA Games, and commonly known as Jakarta-Palembang 2011, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from 11 to 22 November 2011 in Jakarta and ...

. Their father died in August 2019.

Competitive history

Collegiate stats

Career perfect 10.0

Regular season rankings

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finnegan, Aleah 2003 births Living people Filipino female artistic gymnasts American female artistic gymnasts Filipino people of American descent American sportspeople of Filipino descent Sportspeople from Missouri U.S. women's national team gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics LSU Tigers women's gymnasts 21st-century American sportswomen Competitors at the 2021 SEA Games SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in gymnastics SEA Games silver medalists for the Philippines Gymnasts at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for the Philippines