By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Fil-Americans Aleah Finnegan and Kylee Kvamme inched closer to fulfilling their childhood dreams of competing in the Olympics after earning berths to the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
The two gymnasts clinched world championships tickets following their impressive performances in the individual all-around in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore Friday, June 16.
Finnegan, a double gold medalist in the 2021 Southeast Asian Games, finished seventh in the individual all-around with a total score of 50.399, while also advancing to the finals of three more events – vault, balance beam and floor exercise.
She was four points behind Top 3 all-around qualifiers Qiu Qiyuan of China, who posted 54.932, and another Chinese in Zhang Qingying (53.965) and Korean Shin Solyi (53.499).
The 20-year-old Finnegan also came in a close second in vault with a 13.533 average behind top qualifier Yeo Seojeong of Korea (13.683), 7th in balance beam (12.833) and 8th in floor exercise (12.933).
Kvamme, meanwhile, gained a spot to the worlds after finishing 14th place in the all-around (48.765).
She made the cut as one of the next best gymnasts since there were seven high-ranked gymnasts from China, Korea and Chinese Taipei who qualified to the worlds through the team event.
Finnegan and Kvamme will join Carlos Yulo to the world championships in Antwerp, Belgium in late September, which serves as one of the qualifiers to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Yulo also advanced to the world championships after finishing second in the all-around event.
