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‘Dream come true’: Filipina gymnast Aleah Finnegan qualifies for Paris Olympics

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(UPDATED) Gymnast Aleah Finnegan is the third Filipino athlete to qualify for next year&#x27;s Paris Olympics.This was confirmed on Tuesday, after Finnegan competed in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.Finnegan, 20, emerged as one of the 14 highest-ranked eligible gymnasts after the women&#x27;s all-around. She compiled a total of 51.366 points across the four apparatus. She scored 13.400 on the vault, 12.433 on the bars, 12.700 on the balance beam, and 12.833 on the floor exercise to finish 32nd among 117 competitors.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">This. Is. What. It. Means. 🇵🇭 Aleah Finnegan has booked her ticket to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paris2024?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Paris2024</a>!* 🥹<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Antwerp2023?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Antwerp2023</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToParis2024?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToParis2024</a>— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) <a href="https://twitter.com/Olympics/status/1708972630097711169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2023</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div>A two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, Finnegan joins fellow gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena as part of Team Philippines to Paris next year. “I’m just so thankful for the Philippines for giving this opportunity for me that I would never have been able to take otherwise,” Finnegan said. “Just to be here, honoring my family, the Philippines, and honoring my dad who’s in heaven, and all the people who put in so many sacrifices for me to be here, is really just a dream come true,” the 20-year-old said. In 2021, three major mistakes on the opening night of the US nationals had kept Finnegan from advancing to the US Olympic trials. Finnegan had thought this would be her final competition as an elite gymnast. But then, the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines asked her to represent them at the 2022 Southeast Asian Games.Finnegan’s mother Linabelle was born and raised in the Philippines and her oldest sister Hannah had presented the country at the SEA Games about a decade ago, according to a feature on the Olympics website. “I didn’t really like how my career had come to end, especially so abruptly, too. But, like I said, I had peace with it… I wasn’t really sure if that was a door that I wanted to open again,” Finnegan said, as quoted by the Olympics <a href="https://olympics.com/en/news/aleah-finnegan-exclusive-gymnastics-philippines-future?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social-organic&amp;utm_campaign=twitter_global_olympics-social_tw-tweet_c7e02ac60&amp;utm_content=twitter_global_olympics-social_tw-tweet_c7e02ac60">report</a>. “However, it was an opportunity that was just laid out in front of me, and I don’t want to use the word silly, but it would have been silly to pass up on it,” she added. She won four medals at those Games, including team and vault golds. She was the silver medallist in the all-around and on the balance beam. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/15/22/aleah-finnegan-wins-vault-gold-in-sea-games">Aleah Finnegan wins vault gold in SEA Games</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/19/22/gymnast-finnegan-makes-mom-proud-with-sea-games-feat">Fil-Am gymnast Finnegan makes mother proud with SEA Games feat</a></li></ul>In the Asian Gymnastics Championships last May, she won two bronze medals on vault and the balance beam, which earned her a chance to compete at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, the sport’s biggest Paris 2024 qualifier.“I’ve been wanting to go to the Olympics since I knew what the Olympics were,” Finnegan said. “I was kind of calculating how old I would need to be and what years that would be. I never really thought growing up that it would be 2024, but here I am with this opportunity.” <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/16/23/finnegan-kvamme-to-join-yulo-in-world-championships">Finnegan, Kvamme to join Yulo in World Championships</a></li></ul>

Gymnast Aleah Finnegan is the third Filipino athlete to qualify for next year's Paris Olympics.