Filipino American gymnast going to the Olympics for the Philippines

LSU gymnast Aleah Finnegan will booking a ticket to the Paris Olympics next year.

Filipino American gymnast Aleah Finnegan will be going to Paris 2024 following her performance at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championship last Monday. Although born in Missouri, she will be representing the Philippines.

Finnegan, who is also one of the stars of the Louisiana State University gymnastic team, earned an all-around score of 51.366 in her world championship debut.

“It was such an honor to compete for the Philippines on the world stage. To be able to represent my family and just knowing that I did everything I could out there was really special,” said Finnegan.

The 20-year old is one of several Filipino Americans who have chosen to represent the Philippiines. Besides Finnegan, UCLA's Emma Malabuyo, University of Alabama's Kylee Kvamme and Stanford's Levi Jung-Ruivivar, are members of the Philippines women's artistic gymnastic team.

Although the Philippines team did not qualify for the Olympics, the international gymnastic federation allows for individuals to vye for medals if they qualify.

Kvamme also competed for the Philippines in Antwerp but did not win enough points to qualify.

Finnegan's all-around score of 51.366 placed her fifth on the day out of the gymnasts on non-qualifying teams to secure her spot in Paris. The Filipino-American posted 13 points in vault, 12.433 points in uneven bars, 12.7 in balanced beam and 12.833 in floor exercise. Additionally, she can now serve as second alternate for the women’s individual all-around final at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, October 6.

Finnegan amassed 51.366 points for 32nd place in the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships’ qualification in Antwerp, Belgium, which gives her enough credentials to take one of 14 spots for the highest-ranked eligible athletes for the Olympics.

The Filipino American posted 13 points in vault, 12.433 points in uneven bars, 12.7 in balanced beam and 12.833 in floor exercise.

Finnegan is the first Filipina gymnast since Evelyn Magluyan in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo to participate at an Olympic Games.

ALEAH FINNEGAN

Finnegan, who is from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, got a call after her freshman season to see if she would be willing to represent the Philippines internationally. 

She follows in the footsteps of her older sisters. Her older sister Hannah did so in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, while her other sister, Sarah Finnegan, a former LSU All-American, was an alternate on the US team for the 2012 London Olympics.

“I’ve been wanting to go to the Olympics since I knew what the Olympics were,” says Finnegan. “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.”

A native of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Finnegan earned her spot at worlds after finishing as one of the top eight all-arounders at the Asian Championships in June to continue her journey with the Philippines at this year’s World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

Tokyo Olympics: Suni Lee wins gold medal in best all-around gymnastic performance

The United States's Sunisa Lee with her newest hardware, an Olympic gold medal.

With all of the media focusing on gymnast Simone Biles and her mental health struggle, Sunisa Lee focused on herself and the task at had, to do her best. Her best, it turns out, was enough to win the gold medal in all-around.

"The past two years have been absolutely crazy with Covid and my family and everything else," Lee told journalists Thursday morning after she won the event at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

"This medal definitely means a lot to me because there was a point in time when I wanted to quit and I just didn't think I would ever be here, including injuries and stuff.

"So there are a lot of emotions, but I'm definitely super proud of myself for sticking with it and believing in myself," said Lee, who is the first Hmong American to represent the U.S. in the Olympics.

The 18-year old gymnast won the women's all-around title ahead of Brazil's Rebeca Andrade, the silver medalist and the Russian Olympic Committee's Angelina Melnikova, who won the bronze.

Lee's gold medal was the fifth in a row for an American gymnast in the Olympic women's all-around.

Biles and the rest of her teammates, were in the stands to cheer on Lee, who is bound for Auburn University on a full athletic scholarship.

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Sunisa Lee on the balance beam.

Biles, who most experts had predicted to dominate the gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics, bowed out of competition earlier in the weak because of state of her mental health. Her health, she said, was day to day. It is not certain if she will compete on the individual events Sunday.

At the U.S. championships held prior to the Olympics, Lee had pushed Biles throughout the competition, actually besting the G.O.A.T. on the uneven bars, Lee's specialty.

Biles and the older gymnasts told Lee advised Lee prior tot he competition. “They told me to just go out there and not worry about anything else because I was starting to put a lot of pressure on myself,” Lee said.

Lee can add on to her gold and the silver medal earned by the team. On Sunday gymnasts will compete on individual events. Lee has qualified on the balance beam and uneven bars.

The gold medal was up for grabs up until the last event, the floor exercises. After Lee's performance, which she  made more complicated for the points, she waited until her score to finally celebrated, clapping her hands before hugging her coach. Across the Pacific, cheering broke out in St. Paul, Minnesota where family and friends had gathered to watch her historic performance on television.

The Twin Cities is home to one of the largest Hmong American communities in the United States. Lee is the American-born-and-raised daughter of Laos' Hmong refugees who fought on the side of the Americans during the Vietnam War. Thousands of Hmong families sought refuge in the U.S. after the war.

Just being in the Olympics representing the U.S. "means a lot to the Hmong community," Lee told People,  "... and to just be an inspiration to other Hmong people (means) a lot to me too."

Tokyo Olympics: With Simone Biles' withdrawal, all eyes turn to Suni Lee in women's gymnastics competition

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Sunisa Lee is now the best hope in the gymnastic individual all-around competition.

UPDATED July 28, 11:15 a.m. PDT, to include Lee's tweet.

Suddenly,18-year old Suni Lee, the first Hmong American Olympic athlete, was in the spotlight, and so was the pressure.

That changed Sunday. Shaky mental health was the reason Simone Biles, who before the Olympics was expected to sweep all the gold medals, withdrew from the gymnastics team competition at the Tokyo Olympics.

Lee, who finished second to Biles in the U.S. championships, delivered when the U.S. team was still reeling from Biles decision and needed an emotional lift to remain competitive with the Russians

After a shaky performance on the vault, Biles took herself out of the competition and suddenly left the floor. She returned, but she had decided to not compete in the team competition. Biles' training partner Jordan Chiles was called in the take the place of Biles.

The next event, the uneven bars, is Lee's specialty. It is the one apparatus that Biles was not expected to win because of Lee's complex spectacular routine. She earned a score of 15.4, the highest score of the night. Lee's performance on the bars signaled the rest of the room that the U.S. was not going to go down without a fight.

Lee nailed her balance beam routine. The rest of the U.S. team did their best with just a few mistakes.

Lee took Biles place on the floor competition and even without preparation or warm up, scored high enough to keep the U.S. close to the Russians.

The Russians three strong floor routines was enough fo win the team competition, The first time in three straight Olympics that the U.S. did not take the gold.

Lee will now compete in Thursday's individual all-around, a competition that she could win, now that her teammate Biles is not competing.

Meanwhile, Biles, acknowledged as the greatest gymnast -- male or female -- of all time will decide later whether or not she will compete in the separate apparatus.

Late Tuesday night, Biles announced that she would not be taking part in the individual all-around. "I'm taking one day at a time," she told reporters, admitting that the problem is more mental than physical.

"Whenever you get in a high stress situation, you kind of freak out," Biles told reporters on Tuesday. "I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being.

"It just sucks when you're fighting with your own head." 

"After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games, in order to focus on her mental health," tweeted USA Gymnastics.

"Simone will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week's individual event finals. Jade Carey, who had the ninth highest score in qualifications, will participate in her place in the all-around.

"We wholeheartedly support Simone's decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many."

Asked about Biles in a press conference after the team competition, Lee responded, “To see her kind of go out like that is very sad because this Olympic Games, I feel like, is kind of hers.”

A reporter asked Lee if she stacks up against the competition, Biles interjected, giving  Lee some impromptu advice, "Instead of competing against other people, if you just focus on yourself you'll be alright."

Later on Tuesday night, Lee, a native of St. Paul, Minn, tweeted that she has “never been prouder to be apart of such an amazing team with an amazing group of girls.”

She added: “We stepped up when we needed to and did this for ourselves. we do not owe anyone a gold medal, we are WINNERS in our hearts.”