Last summer, Aleah Finnegan arrived in Baton Rouge with a broken foot and a broken dream. After recovering from a surgery that meant the difference between continuing or ending gymnastics, Finnegan failed to qualify for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.
She was also still reeling from the loss of her father during the height of her elite career in late 2019. He watched her finish fourth on vault at the U.S. championships and win gold at the Pan American Games before succumbing to his battle with pancreatic cancer only weeks later. She commented that losing her biggest supporter and achieving new heights in her elite career gave her very conflicting emotions.
She went on to compete at the GK U.S. Classic in early 2021, where she placed fifth in the all-around behind the likes of star gymnasts Simone Biles, Grace McCallum and Jordan Chiles. The following month, however, she fell during three of four events during the National Championships, which automatically put her out of the competition for the Olympic Trials.
“I was heartbroken,” she told collegegymnews. “It’s something you’re so close to getting, but it’s out of your reach; It felt like it was ripped from me.”
Finnegan’s story didn’t end there, however. Shortly after the abrupt end of her elite career, she started her collegiate career at LSU.
The Missouri native was no stranger to the environment at LSU. Her older sister, Sarah, became an LSU legend when she competed as a gymnast at the university. From 2016 to 2019, Sarah became a two-time NCAA Champion on bars, 2019 SEC Gymnast of the Year, 2019 SEC All-Around Champion and 2019 AAI Award Winner. She was also a nominee for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year and an alternate for the 2012 Olympic gymnastics team amongst several other awards.
Needless to say, the eighteen-year-old knew she was stepping onto a campus where her older sister made ‘Finnegan’ a household name. Yet, she had more challenges than just the expectations of the public.
“So I actually came to college on crutches,” she said. “I had foot surgery about two days before moving here. I’ve been having problems with my ankle since 16 or 15.”
Finnegan was limited to beam and floor after undergoing her second foot surgery in August of last year. She still trained for all four events during the preseason but for her own safety, she was ultimately benched from competing in the all-around.
“Of course, there was pressure coming here,” she admitted. “But I think I’m just gonna try to focus on making sure it’s my name that people see whenever I finally get out there and really create my own identity when I’m competing because you know, we are different. So I just want other people to see that too.”
Finnegan made her debut by the second meet of the season on beam. After that, she competed on both the beam and the floor in every meet of the season. She set career highs of 9.925 in both events.
“I was just really proud of myself for getting into that lineup and consistently being in two events,” she said. “It’s not necessarily about certain scores. Obviously, I set expectations for myself. Some things I haven’t exactly hit yet. But I think how I did last season compared to elite competitions before that are just very different.”
Going from crutches to a spectacular freshman debut, Aleah mentioned how thankful she was for the support of her teammates and coaching staff during that time. Of course, Sarah’s time at LSU gave her a more realistic look into the college, but there were several other factors that led to her commitment at 13 years old.
“From the outside looking in, I saw the sisterhood and the family that was inside of LSU gymnastics,” Finnegan said. “I really liked the way they ran this program. It just felt like home, where I needed to be,” she commented.
Her dad’s influence was also a big factor in her decision to come to LSU.
“He’s always been my biggest fan…and he absolutely loved LSU Gymnastics,” she told TigerTV. “They treated him so well, really just like family. That’s one of the reasons I came here.”
Although LSU gymnastics is Aleah’s home away from home, it’s still difficult to be away from her family at times. After all, gymnastics was something she did with her sisters during the majority of her youth.
Neither of her parents ever participated in the sport, but when her three older sisters were little, her mother wanted to put them in sports that helped with brain development. They lived next to a gymnastics facility so her mom decided to give it a try.
“It’s a family thing,” she said. “[My sisters] really liked it so when I came along it was just something they were already doing. But I mean, I fell in love with it.”
So naturally, she always wanted to go to the Olympics while growing up. Watching Sarah and other girls compete in the gym and strive for the same goal only motivated her further. Going to the Olympics and then going to college was practically engraved in her brain.
Sarah finally achieved that goal when becoming an alternate for the 2012 Olympic Games. She already had notable status in the gymnastics world. Aleah began to feel like a source of her inspiration was also becoming a shadow of her identity from the public’s perspective.
“After qualifying for elite, it was just like I was ‘Sister of the 2012 [Olympic] alternate’,” she said. “But I was like, ‘You know, my name’s Aleah.’ So that’s when I really wanted to create my own identity.”
A common misconception about her path to elite status and LSU is that it resulted from being Sarah’s sister. The younger sister is adamant about setting her own goals so she can be recognized for her own accomplishments. Not just for being ‘Sarah’s little sister.’
Seeing her sisters in the sport meant more than comparing their accomplishments though. Being of Flipino heritage, she was always grateful to see her ethnicity represented in the sport. After arriving at LSU, she realized not everyone was as lucky as her. So she’s hoping to use the rest of her career to inspire underrepresented gymnasts.
“If they look at me and are like, ‘Hey she’s Filipino. I’m Filipino, too. Maybe I can do that one day,” she told FloGymnastics. “To be able to inspire people like that because of my ethnicity would be amazing. Filipino gymnasts don’t get a lot of recognition, especially competing for the Philippines.”
So when Aleah’s freshman year ended in May, it was no surprise that she made the leap back into her elite career. Though she was upset about the end of her elite career before LSU, she was thankful that the pressure was finally off of her shoulders.
But then she received a phone call from the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines.
“I was like ‘Should I do it?’ I was talking to my mom, I kept going back and forth with the coaches here. I was also talking to the Philippines a lot,” she explained. “Then in March is really when I decided that I’d do it.”
After battling injuries to make her debut this spring, Aleah’s collegiate season ended and she was only given four weeks to prepare for elite competition. The Filipino-American had to begin training in completely different skills and different scoring standards to fit the metrics of the competition.
On top of the paperwork and contracts to switch nationalities, she even had to take her finals a week early in order to fly out to the Philippines in time for the competition. Most elite gymnasts represent their home countries, but Aleah was determined to represent her Filipino heritage.
“It really was a hectic time,” she said. “But it was something that I wanted to do for myself and for my mom, my family, and all of my Filipino heritage.”
In the midst of May, the sophomore flew to Hanoi, Vietnam to represent her mother’s home country at the 31st Southeast Asian Games. The youngest Finnegan sister paved the way for the Phillippines to win their first gold team medal in thirty years. She also won silver in the all-around with a 49.250, just below Indonesia’s Rifda Irfanaluthi who took home the gold in the division.
“I love how diverse gymnastics can be at the national level,” she said. “It shows how connected we are through this one passion. I’m proud that I could represent the Philippines.”
The following day, she won another silver in the balance beam competition but managed to grab her first-ever individual gold for the Phillippines while competing on vault. The formerly retired elitist walked away with four medals in two days. Both the men’s and women’s teams of this year’s competition earned the most gold medals in the Phillippines’ history at the SEA games.
“My mom was so proud of me, it was so surreal. During the trip, she was with me every step of the way. For the U.S., you hardly ever see your parents, which is really unfortunate,” she spoke. “And she was just filled with so much pride. Right after our team finals won gold, we received flowers. So right after we got off, I just remember running to my mom and giving her the flowers. It was so cute!”
Now back in Baton Rouge, the sophomore is ready to get back into the PMAC and compete for the purple and gold again. Besides aiming to get her first ten, she mainly wants to progressively improve and help the team reach its first-ever National Championship.
“Last year’s preseason looks a lot different than this preseason does,” she said. “I was learning how to walk, run, and jump. Now I’m able to do all four events so I’m able to do all the assignments without any restrictions on me. That makes me feel a lot more comfortable going into this season.”
Aleah’s path to this moment has given her something just as great as an Olympic experience. Revisiting her elite career is a memory she holds dearly, but she’s focusing on her future now.
“My goal was the Olympics and I didn’t go to them,” she said. “Obviously, some things don’t always work out the way we want. But it’s okay because I’m here now and I wouldn’t want it any other way. We can always take something away from our hardships and losses.”
The multiple hardships that Aleah has faced were crucial parts in molding her into the woman she is today. Having Sarah’s shadow loom over her presence at LSU sometimes is just one of them. Being compared to her older sister (who LSUsports even dubbed “The greatest gymnast in LSU history”) is practically inevitable. It’s important to note that her sister’s legacy is something she’s also grateful for, though.
“Sarah’s legacy was a goal that I wanted to reach, but I realized that I didn’t have to beat her,” she admitted. “She and my coaches have made that very clear to me. We are very separate people, so I love when I hear people say that I remind them of Sarah because I take it as a compliment. Guess I’m doing something right here! But no, I don’t necessarily see it as pressure. I think it’s an honor to be able to carry the Finnegan legacy throughout LSU.”
Though Aleah is proud to carry on the Finnegan name, she’s walking in her own footsteps now.
