Aleah Finnegan Qualifies for Worlds

One competition stands between her and the Olympics

Aleah Finnegan is now on the doorstep of fulfilling an Olympic dream. The Philippines came a mere 2.301 shy of earning the second qualifying spot to Worlds and the bronze medal after every gymnast fell on their bars routine in the final rotation. Despite the heartbreaking final rotation, the Philippines will have two gymnasts representing their country in the all-around at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships: Aleah and Kylee Kvamme, an Alabama commit in the freshman class of 2024. They are the first Filipina women to qualify for Worlds since current Alabama gymnast Corinne Bunagan did so in 2018.

Aleah qualified as one of the top all-arounders with a 50.399. She earned a 12.833 (4.8 D, 8.033 E) on beam, 12.933 (4.5 D, 8.433 E) on floor using a routine with the same passes she used this past season, 13.800 (4.6 D, 9.200 E) on vault with a Yurchenko 1.5 and a 10.833 (4.5 D, 6.333 E) on bars, a score so low because she fell after her first handstand.

If Aleah is to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics as an all-arounder, she will have to have one of the top 14 final all-around scores excluding those from gymnasts whose teams have already qualified for Paris and who have qualified as all-arounders as an individual at 2022 Worlds. She had great beam, floor and vault scores, but she’ll need to avoid falling on any event to have a remote shot at biggest stage on the planet. Also, if she uses the bars dismount she did during the 2023 season, she’ll increase her D score by 0.4, which could be the difference between Paris and bupkis.

The 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be held at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium, from September 30-October 6. Aleah will need to get through the all-around qualification round to have a chance to qualify for the Olympics.