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Filipina gymnast Aleah Finnegan at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Handout/Aleah Finnegan

Filipina gymnast Aleah Finnegan at the 2024 Paris Olympics

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PARIS 2024

Romwel Anzures

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1723892842861Aleah Finnegan for Meralco Bolts-1.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Filipina gymnast Aleah Finnegan at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Handout/Aleah Finnegan"/>Filipina gymnast Aleah Finnegan at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Handout/Aleah Finnegan</div>MANILA — Aleah Finnegan made history for the Philippines in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.The 21-year-old was the first Filipina to have qualified for the Summer Games since 1964, and she eventually did wonders with fellow PH bets Emma Malabuyo and Levi Ruvivar in France in the women&#x27;s artistic gymnastics event there.The Louisiana State University student ranked at No.47 at the end of their event, but she still remained grateful for her overall experience in Paris.&quot;I&#x27;ve been very fortunate and very blessed for the year that I&#x27;ve had,&quot; said Finnegan at the sidelines of the Yes Girl training clinic on Saturday in Intramuros, Manila.Finnegan was among the LSU women&#x27;s gymnastics squad that won the US NCAA Championship in early 2024, and she said that her campaign in Paris made her year even better.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/8/17/aleah-finnegan-emma-malabuyo-lead-women-s-gymnastics-training-clinic-in-manila-1629">READ: Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo lead women&#x27;s gymnastics training clinic in Manila</a></div>&quot;With the NCAA Championship and the Paris Olympics [stint], the Lord has given me the talent, I&#x27;ve been able to showcase it to the best of my abilities,&quot; she added. She also relished the experience of finally representing the country in the quadrennial games.&quot;Competition-wise, it was very exciting. Walking into the arena, seeing all the Filipino flags, I&#x27;m very thankful that I was able to represent the flag,&quot; said Aleah. &quot;My biggest takeaway was just how thankful I am to be there in the first place.&quot;The LSU junior also lamented how she fell short of advancing into the medal rounds of her event, but explained that she is instead looking to remain grateful for her whole campaign in Paris. &quot;I think that it was my best showcase, but it can be a little disappointing. You worked your whole life for a total of five minutes, and unfortunately, things don&#x27;t go your way sometimes.&quot;&quot;But I&#x27;m choosing to see the successful run that we had, I&#x27;m choosing to see how amazing it was. We had three women athletes in the gymnastics category. I&#x27;m really just blessed that each person that was there competing for the Philippines, they all had a part in our successful run,&quot; she continued. Another unfortunate thing that the Business Marketing student had to deal with was missing the Heroes&#x27; parade for the Filipino Olympians earlier this week. She downplayed the incident, which she said was a result of a miscommunication with the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines. Finnegan stressed that what&#x27;s more important is being able to link up with the hopefuls over there in the GAP Gym in Manila. &quot;Our whole reason to come to the Philippines was for this clinic. I&#x27;m really thankful for the GAP for this opportunity and being able to showcase and spend time with over 80 gymnasts here,&quot; she explained. Moving forward, Finnegan shared that what is more important is how GAP and the concerned groups must remain consistent with their support for the country&#x27;s aspiring gymnasts as they look to build from Carlos Yulo&#x27;s double-gold performance in this year&#x27;s Games. &quot;The team that we had was the biggest one that we&#x27;d have yet. What a great showcase that was, and we&#x27;re doing better than we did four years ago in Tokyo,&quot; said Aleah.&quot;I think that&#x27;s the important thing. It&#x27;s not about the numbers and comparing ourselves to other countries. It&#x27;s about the people that we have here. But I hope that it expands for &#x27;28, and I hope that more people will see the importance of representing the Philippines.&quot; &quot;It&#x27;s hard for me to [point out specifics], but I think that if they just keep on doing what they have been doing, we&#x27;re gonna see tremendous upbringing in gymnastics. I&#x27;ve heard we&#x27;re already getting so many people who want to start in gymnastics, and so many people who want to be a part of GAP and the incredible things that they&#x27;re doing.&quot;&quot;Slowly by slowly, we&#x27;re building an army, and we&#x27;re gonna see it real soon. If we just keep on doing what we&#x27;re doing, we&#x27;re gonna expand,&quot; she added, while also sharing how she can also do her part by enticing other Filipino-blooded athletes in the US to compete in the Philippines for future competitions. &quot;If you&#x27;re proud of your heritage, this is the best way to showcase it. It&#x27;s the world&#x27;s highest stage, and personally, this is the best way to give back for the sacrifices that my family has given me.&quot;&quot;Anyone who will ask me about it, I&#x27;m of 100% support and I&#x27;ll tell them to do it,&quot; continued the 2021 Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist.However, Finnegan emphasized that personally, there are still no concrete plans for whether she will play for the Philippines again in Los Angeles four years from now.&quot;I don&#x27;t have too many plans. I&#x27;m heading back to school in two weeks and I&#x27;ll graduate in May. After I graduate, I&#x27;m just taking it one step at a time. It&#x27;s not a yes, but it&#x27;s not a no, so we&#x27;ll just kind of see where the wind takes me,&quot; she said.<div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-color:rgb(0, 0, 0)">RELATED VIDEO: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8JA1RUR6FH4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></div>

Aleah Finnegan made history for the Philippines in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Aleah Finnegan made history for the Philippines in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Will Aleah Finnegan represent the Philippines in the 2028 Olympics?

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Will Aleah Finnegan represent the Philippines in the 2028 Olympics?

Romwel Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 17, 2024 10:30 PM PHT

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Gymnastics

ABSSports

2024 Paris Olympic Games

Paris Olympics

2024 Olympics

Paris 2024

Aleah Finnegan

Carlos Yulo

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