BY KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Aleah Finnegan became the latest Filipino athlete to qualify to the 2024 Paris Olympics following her all-around performance in the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
The Fil-American placed 32nd in the two-day all-around qualifications with 51.366 points, enough to secure one of the 14 berths at stake to Paris.
“It’s just a dream come true,” a teary-eyed Finnegan said in an interview with Olympics.com.
“I’m just so thankful for the Philippines for giving me this opportunity that I would never have been able to take otherwise,” she added.
Apart from joining fellow gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena to Paris, Finnegan also becomes the first female gymnast from the Philippines to compete in the Olympics since Evelyn Magluyan and Maria Luisa Floro saw action in the 1964 Tokyo edition.
“Just to be here honoring my family, the Philippines, and honoring my dad who is in heaven, and all the people who put in so many sacrifices for me to be here, it is really just a dream come true,” Finnegan said.
A former member of the United States gymnastics team, the Missouri-born Finnegan started competing for the Philippines in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games in 2022 where she won two gold and two silver medals.
She also bagged bronze medals in vault and balance beam at the 2023 Asian Championships in Singapore.
Other Olympic qualifiers in the all-around are Algeria’s Kaylia Neymour, Germany’s Pauline Schafer-Betz, Mexico’s Alexa Moreno, Portugal’s Filipa Martins, Hungary’s Bettina Lili Czifra, Spain’s Alba Petisco, Ukraine’s Anna Lashchevska, Panama’s Hillary Heron, South Africa’s Caitlin Rooskrantz, Czech Republic’s Sona Artamonova, Israel’s Lihie Raz, and Slovenia’s Lucija Hribar.
China, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Japan, Australia, Romania, and Korea qualified in the team event, joining the United States, Great Britain and Canada.
Finnegan’s all-around score also made her the second reserve in the finals. She posted 13 points in vault (18th), 12.433 in uneven bars (73rd), 12.7 in balance beam (38th), and 12.833 in floor exercise (34th).
