Aleah Finnegan
Aleah Finnegan (born January 4, 2003) is a Filipino-American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the United States' women's national gymnastics team from 2019–21 and was part of the team that won gold at the 2019 Pan American Games. She is currently representing the Philippines in international competition. She is the younger sister of 2012 Olympic alternate Sarah Finnegan.
| Aleah Finnegan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Finnegan at the 2021 U.S. National Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Aleah Finnegan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | Philippines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former countries represented | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | January 4, 2003 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Lee's Summit, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior International Elite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2019–21 (USA) 2022–Present (PHI) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gym | Great American Gymnastics Express | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | LSU Tigers (2022–25) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Al Fong | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assistant coach(es) | Armine Barutyan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
Finnegan was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Don and Linabelle Finnegan. She has three sisters, Sarah, Hannah, and Jennah, who are all also gymnasts. She began gymnastics in 2005 and moved to Kansas City in 2008 to continue her gymnastics career.
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 balance beam.[1] In 2017 Finnegan won gold in the all-around for the junior-b division.[2]
Junior elite
2018
In 2018 Finnegan qualified to junior elite at Brestyan's National Qualifier.[3] 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.[4][5] Later that month she competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she placed seventh in the all-around.[6]
In August Finnegan competed at her first National Championships where she placed fourteenth in the all-around,[7] fourth on vault, eighteenth on uneven bars and balance beam, and fifteenth on floor exercise.[8]
Senior elite (United States)
2019
Finnegan turned senior in 2019. In February she was named to the team to compete at the 2019 International Gymnix in Montreal alongside Alyona Shchennikova, Sloane Blakely, and GAGE teammate Kara Eaker.[9] 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.[10]
In June, after the conclusion of the American Classic, Finnegan was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team to compete at the 2019 Pan American Games along with Sloane Blakely, Kara Eaker, Morgan Hurd, Shilese Jones, Sunisa Lee, Riley McCusker, and Leanne Wong.[11]
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, Hurd, McCusker, and Wong.[12]
At the 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.[13][14] On the first day of event finals it was announced that Finnegan had withdrawn from the vault final due to injury.[15][16]
At nationals, Finnegan finished thirteenth in the all-around. She also placed fourth on vault, thirteenth on bars, fifteenth on beam, and sixth on floor.[17] She was not named to the national team, but it was announced that she would receive an invite to the Worlds selection camp due to her participation on the Pan American team. Finnegan competed at the U.S. World Championship trials on only balance beam, receiving a score of 13.200, finishing eleventh on the event.[18] She was not named to the World Championship team after the trials.
2020–21
In November 2020 Finnegan signed her National Letter of Intent with Louisiana State University.[19]
In May 2021 Finnegan competed at the 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.[20] The following month Finnegan competed at the National Championships. She finished 23rd 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 upcoming Olympic Trials.[21] Finnegan announced her retirement from elite gymnastics on June 11, intending to continue competing at the NCAA level with the LSU Tigers.[22]
US NCAA & senior elite (Philippines)
2022
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.[23]
In March it was revealed that Finnegan had decided to represent the Philippines in international competitions and at would make her debut at the postponed 2021 Southeast Asian Games in May 2022.[24] While there she led the Filipino team to first place in the team competition and individually she placed second in the all-around behind Rifda Irfanaluthfi of Indonesia. Finnegan qualified to three event finals: vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. She won gold on vault and silver on balance beam but placed fifth on the uneven bars.[25]
2023
On February 3, in a meet against Georgia, Finnegan earned her first career perfect 10 for the LSU Tigers on the floor exercise.[26] 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.[27] 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.[28]
Competitive history
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 10 | |||||||
| 2016 | J.O. National Championships | 28 | 7 | ||||
| 2017 | J.O. National Championships | 13 | 5 | ||||
| Junior elite | |||||||
| 2018 | Brestyan's National Qualifier | ||||||
| American Classic | 6 | 5 | 15 | 5 | |||
| U.S. Classic | 7 | 5 | 16 | 7 | 7 | ||
| U.S. National Championships | 14 | 4 | 18 | 18 | 15 | ||
| Senior elite | |||||||
| 2019 | International Gymnix | ||||||
| U.S. Classic | 7 | 12 | 10 | 7 | |||
| Pan American Games | WD[a] | ||||||
| U.S. National Championships | 13 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 6 | ||
| Worlds Team Selection Camp | 12 | ||||||
| 2021 | U.S. Classic | 5 | 15 | 7 | 7 | ||
| U.S. National Championships | 23 | 23 | 18 | 14 | |||
| NCAA & Senior elite | |||||||
| 2022 | SEC Championships | 5 | 7 | ||||
| Southeast Asian Games | 5 | ||||||
| 2023 | SEC Championships | 4 | 7 | 28 | 6 | ||
- ^ Finnegan qualified to the vault final but had to withdraw due to injury
Career perfect 10.0
| Season | Date | Event | Meet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | February 3, 2023 | Floor Exercise | LSU vs Georgia |
| February 10, 2023 | Vault | LSU @ Auburn | |
| February 17, 2023 | Balance Beam | LSU vs Florida | |
| February 24, 2023 | Floor Exercise | LSU @ Alabama |
References
- ^ https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_16jo_jra.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_17jo_jrbind.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ "2018 Brestyan's National Qualifier Results". The Gymternet. June 26, 2018.
- ^ "2018 American Classic Results". The Gymternet. July 16, 2018.
- ^ https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_18amerclassic_jr.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_18classic_jr.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_18uschamps_jraa.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_18uschamps_jrevents.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ "USA Gymnastics announces women's spring international team assignments". USA Gymnastics. February 24, 2019.
- ^ "USA wins four junior, senior event titles at 2019 Gymnix International". USA Gymnastics. March 10, 2019.
- ^ "USA Gymnastics names eight women eligible for 2019 U.S. Women's Pan American Games Team". USA Gymnastics. June 23, 2019.
- ^ "Biles, McClain win all-around titles at 2019 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 20, 2019.
- ^ Lauren (2019-07-28). "2019 Pan American Games Live Blog | Women's Qualifications, Subdivision 3". The Gymternet. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ "USA wins women's team final at 2019 Pan Am Games". USA Gymnastics. July 27, 2019.
- ^ @USAGym (July 30, 2019). "Aleah Finnegan has withdrawn from today's vault final due to injury" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Neff, McCusker, Wong win event medals at 2019 Pan Am Games". USA Gymnastics. July 30, 2019.
- ^ "USA Gymnastics | USA Gymnastics". www.usagym.org. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
- ^ "2019 U.S. Worlds Trials Results". The Gymternet. September 24, 2019. The Gymternet. https://thegymter.net/2019/09/26/2019-u-s-worlds-trials-results/
- ^ "Gymnastics Announces 2021 Signing Class". LSU Sports. November 11, 2020.
- ^ "Biles debuts unprecedented Yurchenko double pike vault en route to fifth GK U.S. Classic title". USA Gymnastics. May 22, 2021.
- ^ "Biles wins seventh national all-around championship, most in U.S. women's gymnastics history". USA Gymnastics. June 7, 2021.
- ^ "Heartbroken is an understatement. By far not the way I wanted to end my elite career but I have so much to be proud of". Instagram. June 11, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26.
- ^ "LSU Gymnastics stuns a record-setting audience in win over Gold Medalist Suni Lee and Auburn". The Daily Reveille. February 6, 2022.
- ^ "Yulo banners SEA Games squad". The Manila Times. March 17, 2022.
- ^ "Exclusive: Aleah Finnegan overwhelmed by "love and support" at SEA Games". International Olympic Committee. May 16, 2022.
- ^ "Gymnastics Records Season High Score in Victory Over No. 17 Georgia". LSU Tigers. February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ "LSU's Aleah Finnegan steals show, but No. 5 Auburn prevails". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. February 10, 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "Aleah Finnegan's perfect 10 on beam paces LSU gymnastics team to upset of No. 2 Florida". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. February 17, 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
External links
- Aleah Finnegan at the International Gymnastics Federation
- Aleah Finnegan at the 2019 Pan American Games