| Aleah Finnegan | |
| Fullname: | Aleah Cruz Finnegan |
| Birth Date: | 4 January 2003[1] [2] |
| Birth Place: | St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Residence: | Lee's Summit, Missouri, U.S. |
| Height: | 5 ft 4 in[3] |
| Discipline: | WAG |
| Level: | Senior International Elite |
| Natlteam: | 2019–21 (USA) 2022–present (PHI) |
| Gym: | Great American Gymnastics Express |
| Collegeteam: | LSU Tigers (2022–25) |
| Headcoach: | Al Fong |
| Assistcoach: | Armine Barutyan |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Aleah Cruz Finnegan (born January 4, 2003) is a 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. She represented the Philippines at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She is the 2023 Asian Championships vault and balance beam bronze medalist and the 2021 Southeast Asian Games team and vault champion. She also currently competes for the LSU Tigers gymnastics team and is the 2024 NCAA floor exercise champion, 2023 silver medalist and 2024 gold medalist.
Finnegan was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Don and Linabelle Finnegan. She has three sisters, including Sarah, Hannah, and Jennah.[4] Their mother was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States at age 19 as a student.[5]
Finnegan began gymnastics in 2005 and moved with her family to Kansas City in 2008 to train at Great American Gymnastics Express.[6]
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.[7] In 2017, she won gold in the all-around for the Junior-B division.[8]
In 2018, Finnegan qualified to junior elite at Brestyan's National Qualifier.[9] 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.[10] Later that month, she competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she placed seventh in the all-around.[11] In August, she competed at her first National Championships where she placed 14th in the all-around, fourth on vault, 18th on uneven bars and balance beam, and 15th on floor exercise.[12] [13]
Finnegan turned senior in 2019. In February, she was named to the team to compete at the International Gymnix in Montreal alongside Alyona Shchennikova, Sloane Blakely, and GAGE teammate Kara Eaker.[14] 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.[15] In June, Finnegan was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team to compete at the 2019 Pan American Games.[16] At the 2019 GK US Classic, Finnegan placed seventh in the all-around. She also placed second on vault behind Jade Carey, 12th on uneven bars, 10th 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, Riley McCusker, and Leanne Wong.[17]
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.[18] [19] On the first day of event finals, it was announced that Finnegan had withdrawn from the vault final due to injury.[20] [21]
At the National Championships, Finnegan finished 13th in the all-around. She also placed fourth on vault, 13th on bars, 15th on beam, and sixth on floor.[22] She was not named to the national team, but it was announced that she would receive an invite to the Worlds selection camp.[23] Finnegan competed at the U.S. World Championship trials on only the balance beam, receiving a score of 13.200, finishing 12th on the event.[24] She was not named to the World Championship team after the trials.[25]
After the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games, Finnegan had surgery to fix a fracture in the navicular bone.[26] In November 2020, she signed her National Letter of Intent with Louisiana State University.[27]
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.[28] The following month, she 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 Olympic Trials.[29] Finnegan announced her retirement from elite gymnastics on June 11, intending to continue competing at the NCAA level with the LSU Tigers.[30]
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.[31] She competed on balance beam at the SEC Championships, finishing seventh with a score of 9.925.[32]
In March, it was revealed that Finnegan had decided to represent the Philippines in international competitions.[33] The nationality change was approved by the International Gymnastics Federation in May.[34] At the 2021 Southeast Asian Games, 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. She also won gold on vault and silver on balance beam and placed fifth on the uneven bars.[35]
On February 3, in a meet against Georgia, Finnegan earned her first career perfect 10 for the LSU Tigers on the floor exercise.[36] 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.[37] 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.[38] At the SEC Championships, she scored 9.950 on the floor exercise and finished in second place.[39] She also finished second on floor exercise at the NCAA Championships.
In June, Finnegan competed at the 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 World Championships.[40] During event finals, she won bronze on both vault and balance beam and finished fourth on floor exercise.[41] [42] 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.[43] [44] She was the first Filipina female gymnast to qualify for the Summer Olympics since 1964.[45]
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.[46] At the SEC Championships, Finnegan contributed scores on vault, balance beam and floor exercise, helping LSU win the SEC conference title.[47] During the NCAA Championship semifinals, she won an individual national title on floor exercise with a score of 9.9625 and helped LSU advance to the final.[48] 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.[49] [50] She competed in the 2024 Summer Olympics and finished 47th in the all-around. Finnegan placed 17th in vault, 58th on uneven bars, 71st on balance beam, and 37th on floor exercise.[51]
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.[4] Their father died in August 2019.[52]
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 10 | ||||||||
| 2016 | align=left | J.O. National Championships | 28 | 7 | ||||
| 2017 | align=left | J.O. National Championships | 13 | 5 | ||||
| Junior elite | ||||||||
| 2018 | align=left | Brestyan's National Qualifier | ||||||
| align=left | American Classic | 6 | 5 | 15 | 5 | |||
| align=left | 7 | 5 | 16 | 7 | 7 | |||
| align=left | 14 | 4 | 18 | 18 | 15 | |||
Senior elite  | ||||||||
| 2019 | align=left | |||||||
| align=left | 7 | 12 | 10 | 7 | ||||
| align=left | ||||||||
| 13 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 6 | ||||
| align=left | Worlds Team Selection Camp | 12 | ||||||
| 2021 | align=left | 5 | 15 | 7 | 7 | |||
| align=left | 23 | 23 | 18 | 14 | ||||
| NCAA & Senior elite | ||||||||
| 2022 | align=left | 5 | 7 | |||||
| align=left | 5 | |||||||
| 2023 | align=left | SEC Championships | 4 | 7 | 28 | 6 | ||
| align=left | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| align=left | 5 | 6 | 4 | |||||
| align=left | ||||||||
| 2024 | align=left | SEC Championships | 13 | 20 | 41 | |||
| align=left | 24 | |||||||
| align=left | Olympic Games | 47 | ||||||
| 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 | |
| 2024 | February 16, 2024 | LSU vs Auburn | |
| February 23, 2024 | LSU @ Florida | ||
| April 4, 2024 | Arkansas Regional Semifinal |
| Season | All-Around | Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 42nd | 108th | |
| 2023 | 12th | 30th | 75th | 6th | 4th | |
| 2024 | N/A | 77th | N/A | 36th | 9th |