Ming Gherardi van Eijken (born 3 April 2008) is a French

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

. She is the 2023 Junior World Championships and 2024 European bronze medalist on

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

. She represented

France at the 2024 Summer Olympics France was the host nation of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. French athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland. For Fr ...

Personal life

Van Eijken was born in 2008 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. She began gymnastics when she was three years old in France. She was born to a Dutch father, French mother, and has an Italian grandfather.

Junior gymnastics career

2022

Van Eijken competed at the

2022 City of Jesolo Trophy The 2022 City of Jesolo Trophy was the 13th annual ''Trofeo di Jesolo'' gymnastics competition held in Jesolo, Italy. Both senior and junior gymnasts were invited to compete. The previous two iterations of the competition were canceled due to th ...

where she helped France finish sixth as a team. In August she competed at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

where she helped France finish fifth as a team. During event finals van Eijken won silver on vault behind

Sabrina Voinea Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (born June 4, 2007) is a Romanian artistic gymnast. Personal life Voinea was born in Constanța in 2007. Her mother, Camelia Voinea, is a former artistic gymnast who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and won a silver m ...

2023

In March van Eijken competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge where she helped France place fourth as a team. Individually she won gold on vault and placed fifth on floor exercise. Van Eijken was selected to compete at the 2023 Junior World Championships in

Antalya, Turkey Antalya () is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast outside the Ae ...

alongside

Lana Pondart Lana may refer to: *Lana (given name) *Francesco Lana de Terzi (1631–1687), Italian Jesuit priest and scientist *Lana (wrestler), professional wrestler and pro wrestling manager *''Wild Energy. Lana'', a 2006 Ukrainian fantasy novel Sciences *L ...

and

Lilou Viallat Lilou is a French female given name. It is rising in popularity in France, where it is ranked in the top 50 names given to baby girls. It is sometimes considered a diminutive of the name Lily or a combination of the names Lily and Louise. It may al ...

; the team finished in eleventh place. Individually van Eijken qualified for the vault final. During the final van Eijken performed two clean vaults and won the bronze medal behind

Mia Mainardi Mía Giuliana Mainardi (born 17 April 2008) is an Argentine artistic gymnast. She is the 2023 Junior World champion on vault. Career Mainardi began gymnastics when she was four years old because her older sister also did gymnastics. Mainardi ...

and

July Marano July Marano (born 23 September 2008) is an Italian artistic gymnast. She is the 2023 Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2023 Junior World vault silver medalist and team bronze medalist. Early life Marano was born in Capo d'Orlando, ...

, earning France its first ever Junior World Championship medal.

Senior gymnastics career

2024

Van Eijken was selected to make her senior international debut at the 2024 Trophy of Jesolo where she won gold on vault. In May she competed at the

alongside

Marine Boyer Marine Clémence Boyer (, born 22 May 2000) is a French female artistic gymnast. She is the 2018 Mediterranean Games champion, the 2016 European silver medalist and the 2018 European bronze medalist on the balance beam. She is also the 2018 Eur ...

Lorette Charpy Lorette Eugenie Adrienne Margue Charpy (born December 3, 2001) is a French artistic gymnast. She was part of the team that won silver at the 2018 European Championships and individually she is the 2019 European Games all-around silver medalist a ...

Coline Devillard Coline Devillard (born 9 October 2000) is a French artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. Devillard is the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2022 World bronze medalist, the 2017 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2017 and 202 ...

, and

Morgane Osyssek Morgane Osyssek-Reimer (born 15 December 2002) is a French artistic gymnast and a member of the French national gymnastics team. She was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2023 World Championships and the silver medal-winning tea ...

. During event finals she won bronze on vault behind teammate Devillard and

Valentina Georgieva Valentina Georgieva (; born 28 July 2006) is a Bulgarian artistic gymnast. She is the 2024 European silver medalist on vault. She missed nearly two years of competition due to an injury at the 2022 European Championships, but she returned to co ...

of Bulgaria. During the team final van Eijken helped France win the bronze medal behind Italy and Great Britain. In July van Eijken was officially selected to represent

alongside Boyer,

Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos Mélanie Johanna de Jesus dos Santos (born 5 March 2000) is a French artistic gymnast. She is the 2019 European all-around champion, a two time European champion on the floor exercise (2018, 2019), and the 2021 European champion on the balance ...

, Devillard, and Osyssek.

Competitive history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:van Eijken, Ming 2008 births Living people French female artistic gymnasts Hong Kong female artistic gymnasts Medalists at the Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 21st-century French sportswomen Gymnasts at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for France French people of Dutch descent French people of Italian descent Hong Kong people of French descent Hong Kong people of Dutch descent Hong Kong people of Italian descent