Former LSU Olympian Uncertain About LA 2028 After Multiple Setbacks at 23

After becoming the NCAA floor exercise champion in 2024, having multiple perfect 10s in college, and qualifying for the Paris Olympics, Aleah Finnegan was seen as one of the biggest names heading toward the LA 2028 Olympic cycle. At that point, her achievements before turning 23 looked like a dream in gymnastics. However, that rise came with a physical cost. Then, a string of injuries followed, and now it has created uncertainty around her future in the sport ahead of the 2028 Olympics in LA.

“I’m 23 years old,” she told Olympics.com. “And I’ve done a lot with my career. And some people might say, ‘Aleah, you’ve done it all.’ And a lot of times it goes back and forth in my head, probably every single day. So right now, I actually don’t have an answer for you.” She revealed there is an internal struggle as the clock races towards 2028.

Just recently, in early 2026, Aleah Finnegan underwent three surgeries within three months, which affected her wrist and both ankles. Since then, she has been away from full training for around five months. But still, she returned to basic movements like a handstand after months away. Even she herself admitted that the past year has been physically and mentally difficult.

And that made her say about the future, “It is something that I’m not really sure if I want to go through again. But of course, never say never. I’ll leave it at that.” But there is currently no competition schedule in place for her. Instead, her focus has shifted toward healing, travel, and work outside elite gymnastics.

The injury history, though, extends into earlier incidents as well, including a setback earlier in 2019 where she had to sit out of competition due to injury and navicular bone fracture surgery around 2020. All these moments reveal a career that was regularly disrupted by physical struggles.

But now, following yet another long recovery period, Aleah Finnegan finds herself at a crossroads. It is still unclear if she will continue to LA 2028 or leave sooner than expected, so the future of her gymnastics career is still uncertain. But the biggest blow to her came in the quest for her first Olympics.

Aleah Finnegan’s first major Olympic setback

Aleah Finnegan’s dream was the Tokyo Olympics, and for a while, it looked within reach. But she missed out on the qualification. That setback changed everything. In 2021, she stepped away from elite gymnastics and shifted her focus to college gymnastics at LSU. At that time, her Olympic path no longer felt certain.

Later, everything shifted again when her mother was about to represent the Philippines. That moment brought her back into international gymnastics and gave her career a second direction. “Each time I represent the Philippines, I really take it as an opportunity to represent my mom,” Finnegan told MEGA Active.

From there, Aleah Finnegan worked her way back into competition. Even her performances at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp helped secure her qualification for the Paris Olympics. And in Paris, she made her Olympic debut for the Philippines. She even competed in the all-around qualification round alongside some of the biggest names in the sport, including Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and Rebeca Andrade.

However, Aleah Finnegan didn’t get to the finals and came out of the all-around qualifications with a score of 47, her best event being vault, in which she placed approximately 17th. Looking back, she said, “Gymnastics asks a lot from you. There are sacrifices, and growing up, there were times I wished I could live a normal life. But I don’t regret it. I’m just grateful I reached this point.”