Push Admin

SEA Games: US-raised Pinay gymnast Aleah Finnegan boosts national side

Article (news)

Manolo Pedralvez

<p>THIS Filipino athlete has left the Malaysian artistic gymnastics squad set to compete in the 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian shaking in its collective leotards. And no, it wasn’t two-time world champion Carlos Edriel Yulo.</p><p>The cause for grave concern for the Malaysians is Alea Finnegan, who used to compete for the US national women’s artistic gymnastics squad and will make her debut for the Philippines as the SEA Games gymnastics meet kicks off on Friday, May 13.</p><p>A varsity mainstay at Louisiana State University, Finnegan, 19, won a team gold medal for the US at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, and boasts impressive credentials that make her one of the country’s athletes to watch in Vietnam aside from Yulo.</p><p>Her presence on the national squad has left the Malaysians, who monopolized the women’s artistic gymnastics event with four of the five golds at stake in the 30th Philippine Games pretty worried, <a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/sport/gymnastics/2022/04/08/shu-wai-tells-gymnasts-focus-on-yourselves-not-the-filipinos">the Star</a> in Malaysia reported on its website last April 8. </p><p>The Malaysians will be without its two stars – Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, a triple gold medalist in the 2019 SEA Games, and women’s balance beam champion Tracie Ang, who have both retired – the report said.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaQuxZUF9_7/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:60px"> </div></div></div><div style="padding:19% 0"> </div><div style="display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaQuxZUF9_7/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%" target="_blank"><svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="none" stroke-width="1"><g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></a></div><div style="padding-top:8px"><div style="color:#3897f0;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:550;line-height:18px"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaQuxZUF9_7/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%" target="_blank">View this post on Instagram</a></div></div><div style="padding:12.5% 0"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin-bottom:14px;align-items:center"><div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaQuxZUF9_7/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Aleah Finnegan (@aleahfinn)</a></div></div></blockquote><div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Gymnastics Association Philippines deputy secretary-general Rowena Eusuya credits GAP president Cynthia Carrion for wooing the top caliber gymnast to represent the country of her mother Linabelle, who was born and raised in the Philippines before moving over to Uncle Sam country.</p><p>“Her (Finnegan’s) playing even became a discussion with the International Gymnastics Federation Executive Committee before it happened,” Eusuya said.</p><p>Carrion also played a critical role in the decision of the world gymnastics body – more known for its French name Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) – since she is a close acquaintance of FIG president Morinari Watanabe of Japan on top of being a member of the FIG Council, according to the GAP official. </p><p>Watanabe attended the opening of the new GAP national training center in Intramuros last March. </p><p>“Both athlete and her mother will be leaving this coming week for the Vietnam SEA Games and then head back for Manila so she can train for a while and be immersed with the other national athletes,” Eusuya said.</p><p>Finnegan was born in St. Louis Missouri and gymnastics runs in the family, with elder sister Sara having also donned the US colors and served as an alternate on the US team in the 2012 London Olympics.</p><p>The pert and pretty gymnast is proud of her Filipino heritage, and was quoted as saying in an interview on the <a href="https://www.flogymnastics.com/articles/6829533-aleah-finnegan-discusses-deltchevs-and-diversity">FloGymnastics.com</a> in 2020 that she was inspired when she saw Yulo on video bagging a bronze medal in the men’s floor exercise the 2018 world meet in Doha, Qatar. </p><p>“It was such a special moment, because I was just like, ‘This is so awesome,’” the report said. “Filipino gymnasts don’t get a lot of recognition, especially competing for the Philippines, and I think that was so awesome, and I’m so proud of him (Yulo).”</p><p>She is now poised to make sports history for the Philippines on her own, a chance to be in the personal spotlight after being overshadowed on the star-studded US squad in the past led by the phenomenal world and Olympic champion Simone Biles.</p><p>If her personal bests and performances in 2021 were to be the gauge, Finnegan would have dominated the 2019 30th SEA Games women’s artistic tournament held at the historic Rizal Memorial Coliseum had she been a part of the national squad then. </p><p>She has top individual scores of 14.250 points on the vault, 13.350, uneven bars; 13.550, balance beam; 13.500, floor exercise; and 54.150 in the all-around events.</p><p>The 5-foot-4 sprite was fifth overall at the US GK Classic held from May 21 to 22, 2021 in Indianapolis that was topped by Biles. </p><p>Her scores were 14.250 points in the vault, 13.200, uneven bars; 13.40, balance beam; 13.300, floor exercise, on the way to an all-around score of 54.150. </p><p>Finnegan was likewise 23rd overall at the US Championships held June 3 to 6, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas with scores of 14.000, 13.350, 13.550, 12.600 and 53.500 in the vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and all-around, respectively.</p><p>In comparison, Malaysian 2019 SEA Games triple gold medalist Farah Ann Abdul Hadi had scores of 48.050 in the women’s all-around, 12.366 in the uneven bars and 12.600 in the floor exercise.</p><p>Indonesia’s Rifda Irfanalufthfi topped the vault event with a score of 13.484 points while Malaysia’s Tracie Ang had a tally of 12.867 in the balance beam. </p><p>Carrion said that the Vietnam SEA Games was just the first of several other international tournaments that she hopes Finnegan will compete for the Philippines. </p><p>She said that the athlete will also see action for the country in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships scheduled June 15 to 18 in Doha, Qatar, the continental qualifying meet for the 41st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Liverpool, England in late October.</p>

Aleah Finnegan adds another potential medal winner for the Filipino gymnastics team at the Vietnam Games.