Alyona Shchennikova
Yelena Aleksandrovna "Alyona" Shchennikova (Russian: Елена Александровна "Алёна" Щенникова, born May 12, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the U.S. National Team from 2017–19 and was the all-around champion at the 2017 U.S. Classic.[2] She currently competes for Louisiana State in collegiate gymnastics.
| Alyona Shchennikova | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Yelena Aleksandrovna Shchennikova[1] | ||||
| Nickname(s) | Alyona | ||||
| Country represented | United States | ||||
| Born | May 12, 2001 Layton, Utah USA | ||||
| Residence | Evergreen, Colorado USA | ||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | ||||
| Level | Senior Elite | ||||
| Years on national team | 2017 – 2019 (USA) | ||||
| Club | 5280 Gymnastics | ||||
| College team | LSU Tigers (2020–2023) | ||||
| Head coach(es) | Alex Shchennikov | ||||
| Assistant coach(es) | Katia Shchennikova | ||||
Medal record
| |||||
Early life
Shchennikova was born in Layton, Utah in 2001 to Russian immigrants. She has two sisters, Polina and Kristina, both of whom are gymnasts.[3]
Career
Senior
2017
Shchennikova turned senior in 2017 and was added to the Senior National Team.[4] She competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy where the USA placed first. She also placed eighth in the All-Around.[5] In July, Shchennikova competed at the U.S. Classic where she placed first in the All-Around and second on Uneven Bars behind Ragan Smith.[6][7] In August she competed at the National Championships where she placed eighth in the All-Around.[8]
2018
Shchennikova competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy as an individual due to the US not fielding a team.[9] She placed fourth in the uneven bars. In the summer she competed at the American Classic where she placed third on uneven bars. She later competed at the U.S. Classic where she placed fifth in the All-Around and second on uneven bars behind Riley McCusker.[10] In August Shchennikova competed at the National Championships. She placed ninth in the all-around and fifth on the uneven bars behind Simone Biles, McCusker, Morgan Hurd, and Trinity Thomas.[11] She was later named as the alternate to the 2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships.[12]
In October Shchennikova participated in the Worlds Team Selection Camp. During the competition she placed third on uneven bars behind McCusker and Biles, eighth on balance beam, and ninth in the all-around, on vault, and on floor exercise.[13]
In December Shchennikova competed at the Voronin Cup in Moscow. She placed first in the all-around and on uneven bars and placed second on balance beam behind Maria Kharenkova.[14]
2019
In February Shchennikova was named to the team to compete at the 2019 L'International Gymnix competition in Montreal alongside Sloane Blakely, Kara Eaker, and Aleah Finnegan.[15] While there she helped the USA win team gold. Individually she won silver in the all-around behind Eaker and on uneven bars behind Ana Padurariu of Canada and won bronze on floor exercise behind Azuki Kokufugata of Japan and Haley de Jong of Canada.[16]
In June, while Shchennikova was doing verification for the 2019 Pan American Games, she ruptured her achilles tendon and announced that she would be out for the remainder of the season.[17][18] In August she officially signed her National Letter of Intent with Louisiana State University and joined their gymnastics team[19] in the 2019–2020 season.[20]
NCAA
2019–2020 season
Shchennikova made her collegiate debut in a meet against Arizona, where she only competed on the uneven bars.
2021–2022 season
Shchennikova competed in the opening match against Centenary. Her uneven bars score of 9.950 and all-around score of 39.300 were the highest of the night.[21]
Competitive history
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | |||||||
| 2013 | National Qualifier (HOPEs) | 4 | |||||
| U.S. Challenge (HOPEs) | |||||||
| 2014 | American Classic | 6 | 7 | ||||
| U.S. Classic | 19 | 27 | 21 | 20 | 30 | ||
| U.S. National Championships | 24 | 28 | 9 | 30 | 25 | ||
| 2015 | U.S. Classic | 20 | 30 | 9 | 21 | 30 | |
| U.S. National Championships | 15 | 26 | 24 | 24 | |||
| 2016 | American Classic | 4 | |||||
| U.S. Classic | 11 | 10 | 32 | 33 | |||
| U.S. National Championships | 17 | 8 | 26 | 12 | 19 | ||
| Senior | |||||||
| 2017 | City of Jesolo Trophy | 8 | |||||
| U.S. Classic | 14 | 5 | |||||
| U.S. National Championships | 8 | 9 | 16 | 9 | |||
| 2018 | City of Jesolo Trophy | 26 | 4 | ||||
| American Classic | 12 | ||||||
| U.S. Classic | 5 | 7 | 19 | ||||
| U.S. National Championships | 9 | 5 | 12 | 9 | |||
| Worlds Team Selection Camp | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | |||
| Voronin Cup | 4 | ||||||
| 2019 | International Gymnix | ||||||
| NCAA | |||||||
| 2020 | SEC Championships | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA [22] | |||||
| NCAA Championships | |||||||
| 2021 | SEC Championships | 7 | 10 | 5 | |||
| NCAA Championships | SF | 23 | 9 | ||||
| 2022 | SEC Championships | 5 | 25 | 11 | 23 | ||
| 2023 | SEC Championships | 9 | 12 | 24 | 10 | 10 | |
| NCAA Championships | 4 | 19 | |||||
References
- ^ "5 Minutes With Alyona Shchennikova". Inside Gymnastics. July 27, 2017.
- ^ 2017 U.S. Classic. Meet Results August 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "USA Gymnastics | Alyona Shchennikova". Retrieved May 3, 2023.
- ^ "USA Gymnastics names U.S. Team for Jesolo Trophy". USA Gymnastics. March 25, 2017.
- ^ "2017 City of Jesolo Trophy Results". The Gymternet. April 2, 2017.
- ^ "Alyona Shchennikova Secures Senior All-Around Title At 2017 U.S. Classic". FloGymnastics. July 29, 2017.
- ^ "Shchennikova, Malabuyo win all-around titles at 2017 U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 29, 2017.
- ^ "Smith grabs first U.S. all-around title on final night of P&G Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 20, 2017.
- ^ "U.S. Gymnasts Set To Compete At 2018 City of Jesolo Trophy". FloGymnastics. February 19, 2018.
- ^ "Biles, Wong win all-around titles at 2018 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 28, 2018.
- ^ "Biles wins fifth senior women's all-around title at 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 19, 2018.
- ^ "USA Gymnastics names U.S. Women's Team for 2018 Pan Am Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 20, 2018.
- ^ "Biles wins U.S. women's World Team Selection Camp competition". USA Gymnastics. October 11, 2018.
- ^ "Alyona Shchennikova Won Two Golds At The Voronin Cup". Gymnovosti. December 14, 2018.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Shchennikova achilles announcement". Instagram. June 28, 2019. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021.
- ^ "Alyona Shchennikova tore her Achilles". Gymnovosti. June 29, 2019.
- ^ "So excited to officially call myself an LSU Tiger!!!!💜💛 #geauxtigers @lsugym". Instagram. August 13, 2019. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021.
- ^ "Gymnastics Announces Signing of Alyona Shchennikova". LSU Sports Network. August 15, 2019.
- ^ "Gymnastics Wins 10th-Straight Season Opener". LSU Sports. January 7, 2022.
- ^ "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA. March 13, 2020.
External links
- Alyona Shchennikova at USA Gymnastics