Levi Ruivivar | |
Fullname: | Levi Jung Ruivivar |
Country: | Philippines |
Formercountry: | United States |
Birth Date: | 3 May 2006[1] |
Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Residence: | Plano, Texas, U.S. |
Discipline: | WAG |
Level: | Senior International Elite |
Natlteam: | 2021–2023 (USA) 2023–present (PHI) |
Club: | World Olympic Gymnastics Academy |
Collegeteam: | Stanford Cardinal (2025–28) |
Headcoach: | Valeri Liukin |
Show-Medals: | yes |
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 Philippines at the 2024 Summer Olympics through the 2024 FIG World Cup series.
Ruivivar was born in Los Angeles on May 3, 2006, to actors Anthony Ruivivar and Yvonne Jung. She has two brothers– Kainoa and Kale. She began gymnastics when she was 18 months old.[2] Her paternal grandfather, Tony Ruivivar, was born in the Philippines before moving to Hawaii where he became a founding member of the Society of Seven.[3] [4]
Jung-Ruivivar qualified for domestic elite gymnastics competition with a third-place finish at the 2018 Desert Lights National Qualifier.[5] Her first elite competition was the WOGA Classic where she placed fifth in the all-around and won the silver medal on the uneven bars behind Kayla DiCello.[6] She placed seventh all-around at the American Classic held in Salt Lake City.[7] She then placed 16th all-around at the U.S. Classic.[8] At the U.S. Championships, she finished 18th in the all-around.[9] Her final competition of the season was the Tournoi International held in Combs la Ville, France where she won the all-around title in the espoir division. In the event finals, she won the silver medals on both vault and uneven bars.[10]
Jung-Ruivivar finished 21st in the all-around at the American Classic, but she won the silver medal on the uneven bars behind Ciena Alipio.[11] She placed 30th all-around at the U.S. Classic and then 26th all-around at the U.S. Championships.[12] [13] In September, she moved from her hometown gym Paramount Elite to Twin City Twisters in Champlin, Minnesota.[14]
Jung-Ruivivar did not compete in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic postponing or canceling most competitions. She returned to competition at the 2021 Winter Cup where she won the gold medal on the uneven bars and placed sixth in the all-around.[15] She was named to the U.S. junior national team in March.[16] After the national team camp, she had surgery on both of her wrists, causing her to miss the summer elite competitions.[17] She returned to competition in November for the 2021 Junior Pan American Games selection camp and placed third in the all-around behind Katelyn Jong and Kailin Chio.[18] She was selected as the non-traveling alternate for the U.S. team.[19]
Jung-Ruivivar became age-eligible for senior-level competition in 2022. At the Winter Cup, she placed eighth in the all-around.[20] She made her international debut for the United States at the DTB Pokal Mixed Cup in Stuttgart alongside Katelyn Jong, Karis German, Riley Loos, Curran Phillips, and Colt Walker. They finished first as a team.[21] She only competed on the uneven bars and balance beam at the U.S. Classic, finishing seventh and tenth, respectively.[22] She then finished 14th in the all-around at the U.S. Championships.[23] In October, she competed at the Szomabathely World Challenge Cup and placed sixth on floor exercise.[24] Then in November, she announced she was leaving Twin City Twisters and going to the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano, Texas.[25]
Jung-Ruivivar finished 19th in the all-around at the Winter Cup.[26] She competed on the uneven bars at the balance beam at the U.S. Classic and placed 16th and 32nd, respectively.[27] She then finished 25th in the all-around National Championships.[28] In September, she announced she would represent the Philippines in international competition.[29] Then in November, Ruivivar signed her National Letter of Intent with the Stanford Cardinal to join in the 2025 season.[30]
Jung-Ruivivar competed in the FIG World Cup series in an attempt to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games. She did not qualify for any event finals at the Cairo and Cottbus World Cups.[31] [32] She placed eighth on the uneven bars in Baku,[33] and she won the silver medal in Doha behind Kaylia Nemour.[34] At the conclusion of the World Cup series Ruivivar earned 62 points on the uneven bars which earned her an individual Olympic berth.[35] She was the third Filipino artistic gymnast to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games after Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan qualified at the previous year's World Championships.[36] Ruivivar next competed at the Asian Championships where she helped the Philippines finish seventh as a team and individually she finished sixth in the all-around and qualified to the uneven bars final. During event finals she won bronze on the uneven bars behind Yang Fanyuwei of China and Jon Jang-mi of North Korea.[37] At the Olympics, she finished 40th in the all-around, placing 40th in the uneven bars, 64th on balance beam, and 54th on floor exercise.[38]
align=center | Year | align=center | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing the United States | |||||||||
Junior | |||||||||
2018 | WOGA Classic | 5 | |||||||
align=left | American Classic | 7 | 30 | 7 | 4 | 15 | |||
align=left | 16 | 34 | 18 | 11 | 15 | ||||
align=left | 18 | 19 | 7 | 21 | 12 | ||||
Tournoi International | 6 | ||||||||
2019 | align=left | American Classic | 21 | 22 | 27 | 21 | |||
align=left | 30 | 29 | 32 | 9 | 36 | ||||
align=left | 26 | 25 | 21 | 25 | 20 | ||||
2021 | align=left | 6 | 9 | 8 | 13 | ||||
Senior | |||||||||
2022 | align=left | 8 | 5 | 10 | 14 | ||||
align=left | |||||||||
align=left | 7 | 10 | |||||||
align=left | 14 | 16 | 10 | 14 | |||||
align=left | 6 | ||||||||
2023 | align=left | 19 | 21 | 23 | 19 | ||||
align=left | 16 | 32 | |||||||
align=left | 25 | 18 | 20 | 26 | |||||
Representing the Philippines | |||||||||
2024 | align=left | 8 | |||||||
align=left | |||||||||
align=left | 7 | 6 | |||||||
align=left | Olympic Games | 40 |
Jung-Ruivivar has done some voiceover work for Doc McStuffins and was in a short directed by Gary Baseman.[40]