Posted on Oct 7, 2023
This Kansas City area gym sent 3 athletes to world championships. The Paris Olympics could be...
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Aleah Finnegan, Leanne Wong, and Lynnzee Brown all trained at Great American Gymnastics Express, known as GAGE, in Blue Springs. One of them has already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Three gymnasts made local history when they converged at the world championships in Belgium this week. They all have roots at the same Kansas City-area gym.
Aleah Finnegan, Leanne Wong and Lynnzee Brown sprang from Great American Gymnastics Express in Blue Springs. Two of them made a big splash at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, and one qualified for the Olympics.
“It’s really special to see all of them here. It’s really exciting,” said Finnegan, 20. The Lee’s Summit native is now a gymnast on the Louisiana State University women’s team.
Finnegan qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics based on her fifth-place finish among athletes whose countries don’t participate in team events. Finnegan will represent the Philippines, where her mother was born and Aleah first visited at age 5.
“I have the opportunity to represent them and I really want to make sure I’m making them proud,” said Finnegan. “(I’m) really appreciating where our family heritage has come from. We’re really blessed here in the States, but it’s really important to look back on that.”
Three gymnasts made local history when they converged at the world championships in Belgium this week. They all have roots at the same Kansas City-area gym.
Aleah Finnegan, Leanne Wong and Lynnzee Brown sprang from Great American Gymnastics Express in Blue Springs. Two of them made a big splash at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, and one qualified for the Olympics.
“It’s really special to see all of them here. It’s really exciting,” said Finnegan, 20. The Lee’s Summit native is now a gymnast on the Louisiana State University women’s team.
Finnegan qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics based on her fifth-place finish among athletes whose countries don’t participate in team events. Finnegan will represent the Philippines, where her mother was born and Aleah first visited at age 5.
“I have the opportunity to represent them and I really want to make sure I’m making them proud,” said Finnegan. “(I’m) really appreciating where our family heritage has come from. We’re really blessed here in the States, but it’s really important to look back on that.”
This Kansas City area gym sent 3 athletes to world championships. The Paris Olympics could be...
Posted from kcur.org
Blue Springs
Gymnastics
Kansas City
Posted 7 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."University of Missouri alumnus Sarah Shire Brown hired Lynnzee Brown at PSU. Shire Brown, too, is a former GAGE athlete.
“There’s a giant poster of me in the gym, which is awkward,” said Brown Shire sheepishly. “But Lynnzee always says seeing my face feels like home because … my banner was always up.”
Brown, who competed for Haiti, did not score high enough at the world championships to qualify for the Paris Olympics. She’ll take another shot at the Pan American games this fall in Chile.
Finnegan, meanwhile, is hoping for a reunion in 2024 — in Paris.
“I think that these girls are very hard-working,” she said. “There are some gymnasts who are more talented than others. At the end of the day, it’s not about talent. It’s just about how hard you work, how bad you want it.”
“I’m really excited to see how far these girls go,” she said."
..."University of Missouri alumnus Sarah Shire Brown hired Lynnzee Brown at PSU. Shire Brown, too, is a former GAGE athlete.
“There’s a giant poster of me in the gym, which is awkward,” said Brown Shire sheepishly. “But Lynnzee always says seeing my face feels like home because … my banner was always up.”
Brown, who competed for Haiti, did not score high enough at the world championships to qualify for the Paris Olympics. She’ll take another shot at the Pan American games this fall in Chile.
Finnegan, meanwhile, is hoping for a reunion in 2024 — in Paris.
“I think that these girls are very hard-working,” she said. “There are some gymnasts who are more talented than others. At the end of the day, it’s not about talent. It’s just about how hard you work, how bad you want it.”
“I’m really excited to see how far these girls go,” she said."
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