Finnegan was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Don and Linabelle Finnegan. She has three sisters, including Sarah, Hannah, and Jennah.[5] Their mother was born in the Philippines and was a resident of Caloocan City before moving to the United States at age 19 as a college student.[6]
Finnegan was a Junior Olympic athlete and competed at the 2016 and 2017 J.O Nationals. In 2016, she placed 29th in the all-around and seventh on the balance beam.[8] In 2017, she won gold in the all-around for the Junior-B division.[9]
Junior elite: 2018
In 2018, Finnegan qualified to junior elite at Brestyan's National Qualifier.[10] She made her elite debut at the American Classic in July where she finished sixth in the all-around but won bronze on the balance beam.[11] Later that month, she competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she placed seventh in the all-around.[12] In August, she competed at her first National Championships where she placed 14th in the all-around, fourth on vault, 18th on uneven bars and balance beam, and 15th on floor exercise.[13][14]
Senior gymnastics career
Representing the United States: 2019–2021
Finnegan turned senior in 2019. In February, she was named to the team to compete at the International Gymnix in Montreal alongside Alyona Shchennikova, Sloane Blakely, and GAGE teammate Kara Eaker.[15] While there, she won gold in the team final and on vault; she received the fifth highest score in the all-around but did not place due to teammates Eaker and Shchennikova placing higher.[16] In June of 2019, Finnegan was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team to compete at the 2019 Pan American Games.[17] At the 2019 GK US Classic, Finnegan placed seventh in the all-around. She also placed second on vault behind Jade Carey, twelfth on uneven bars, tenth on balance beam, and seventh on floor exercise. After the competition, she was named to the team to compete at the Pan American Games alongside Eaker, Morgan Hurd, Riley McCusker, and Leanne Wong.[18]
At the 2019 Pan American Games Finnegan competed on vault and floor, with both her scores contributing towards the USA's gold medal winning performance. Individually, Finnegan qualified to the vault final in fourth, behind Ellie Black of Canada, Yesenia Ferrera of Cuba, and Martina Dominici of Argentina. She also posted the fourth highest floor exercise score in the competition, but because teammates McCusker and Eaker scored higher than her, she was unable to compete in the final due to the two-per-country rule.[19][20] On the first day of event finals, it was announced that Finnegan had withdrawn from the vault final due to injury.[21][22]
At the 2019 National Championships, Finnegan finished thirteenth in the all-around. She also placed fourth on vault, thirteenth on uneven bars, fifteenth on balance beam, and sixth on floor exercise.[23] She was not named to the national team, but it was announced that she would receive an invite to the Worlds selection camp.[24] Finnegan competed at the U.S. World Championship trials on only the balance beam, receiving a score of 13.200, finishing twelfth on the event.[25] She was not named to the World Championship team after the trials.[26]
In May 2021, Finnegan competed at the 2021 GK U.S. Classic, finishing fifth in the all-around behind Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Kayla DiCello, and Grace McCallum. Additionally, she placed seventh on both the balance beam and floor exercise.[29] The following month, she competed at the 2021 National Championships. She finished twenty-third in the all-around after falling during three of the four apparatuses on the first night of competition. As a result, she was not selected to compete at the Olympic Trials.[30] Finnegan announced her retirement from elite gymnastics on June 11, intending to continue competing at the NCAA level with the LSU Tigers.[31]
Representing the Philippines: 2022–2024
In March of 2022, it was revealed that Finnegan had decided to represent the Philippines in international competitions.[32] The nationality change was approved by the International Gymnastics Federation in May of that year.[33] At the 2021 Southeast Asian Games (postponed to 2022), she led the Filipino team to first place in the team competition. Individually she placed second in the all-around behind Rifda Irfanaluthfi of Indonesia. She also won gold on vault and silver on balance beam and placed fifth on the uneven bars.[34]
Finnegan (second from left) meeting President Bongbong Marcos
Finnegan competed at the 2023 Asian Championships. On the first day of competition, she helped the Philippines finish fifth as a team, and individually she finished sixth in the all-around. As a result, she qualified as an individual to compete at the 2023 World Championships.[35] During event finals, she won bronze on both vault and balance beam and finished fourth on floor exercise.[36][37] At the World Championships, Finnegan finished 32nd in the all-around, making her the second reserve for the all-around final. Additionally, she qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics as an individual.[38][39]
Finnegan competed at the 2024 Olympic Games alongside fellow Filipina-Americans Levi Ruivivar and Emma Malabuyo. They were the first female Filipina artistic gymnasts to compete at the Olympics since Evelyn Magluyan competed at the 1964 Games.[40] During qualifications Finnegan finished 47th in the all-around. Additionally she finished seventeenth on vault, the highest vault placement for a Filipina gymnast at the Olympics.[41][42]
NCAA gymnastics career
2021–2022 season
Competing for the LSU Tigers, Finnegan made her collegiate debut on January 28 in a meet against Georgia. She only competed on the balance beam where she scored a 9.875.[43] She competed on balance beam at the SEC Championships, finishing seventh with a score of 9.925.[44]
2022–2023 season
On February 3, 2023, in a meet against Georgia, Finnegan earned her first career perfect 10 for the LSU Tigers on the floor exercise.[45] The following week, she earned her second perfect 10 on vault against Auburn, winning the all-around ahead of Sunisa Lee with a score of 39.8.[46] On February 17, Finnegan scored a perfect 10 for the third week in a row, this time on the balance beam, helping LSU upset the No. 2 Florida Gators.[47] At the SEC Championships, she scored 9.950 on the floor exercise and finished in second place.[48] She also finished second on floor exercise at the NCAA Championships.[49]
2023–2024 season
On February 16, Finnegan earned her fifth career perfect 10 on floor exercise in a meet against Auburn. The following week, she scored another perfect 10 on the event in an away meet against Florida.[50] At the SEC Championships, Finnegan contributed scores on vault, balance beam and floor exercise, helping LSU win the SEC conference title.[51] During the NCAA Championship semifinals, she won an individual national title on floor exercise with a score of 9.9625 and helped LSU advance to the final.[52] During the championship final, Finnegan scored a 9.9125 on floor exercise followed by a 9.8375 on vault. In the last rotation, she anchored the Tigers on the balance beam with a 9.950, clinching LSU's first national championship title in program history.[53][54]
Personal life
Aleah Finnegan's sisters would also become competitive gymnasts. Sarah was an alternate for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, and Hannah competed for the Philippines at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games.[5] Their father died in August 2019.[55]
^Although born in the United States, Aleah Finnegan still possesses her mother's maiden name (Cruz) as is the convention in the Philippines as indicated on her birth record.[1]
