Dualing Dreams. In Gymnastics, Dual Citizenship Fulfills Long-Awaited Olympic Dreams

13 Jul Dualing Dreams. In Gymnastics, Dual Citizenship Fulfills Long-Awaited Olympic Dreams

Posted at 19:02h in News & Features, Paris 2024 by Christy Sandmaier 0 Comments

Inside Gymnastics will be on the scene in Paris for the XXXIII Olympiad bringing you all of the action from the Games! Make sure you’re following our social media pages (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Threads) for all the latest and greatest in what promises to be the most epic and most-watched Olympic Games ever.

Dates: July 27 – August 5
Venue: Bercy Arena
TV channels: NBC, USA Network, E!
Streaming: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, NBC app, NBC Olympics app

TV Broadcasts + Streaming Info

Primetime coverage featuring marquee events will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Peacock.
The complete gymnastics schedule, including the apparatus feeds for each session and TV listings, is also available on the NBC Olympics schedule page.
Live and tape-delayed coverage of gymnastics will be shown on the following TV channels: NBC, USA Network and E!

The Schedule

Gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Olympics will air on NBC, USA Network and E!, and stream on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms starting on Saturday, July 27.

Watch Live Here

Watch Replays and Extras Here

Look for previews, stars and storylines on InsideGym.com throughout the Games!

Aleah Finnegan - Lousiana State University

By Megan Roth

In Paris, we’ll see many gymnasts competing for a country that is different from where they live or have represented in the past because they have dual citizenship and have made a nationality change. It’s allowed them the opportunity to fulfill a dream that may not have otherwise have happened.

Nationality changes are not new for this Olympics. Gymnasts have made nationality switches for many years. For example, 8-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina represented both Uzbekistan and Germany and 2020 Olympian Danusia Francis represented Jamaica in Tokyo but competed for Great Britain previously.

In order to change nationalities, a gymnast must have citizenship in the country they wish to represent. Federations have a maximum of two nationality change requests per FIG discipline and three overall. If the country an athlete previously represented approves the switch, the athlete can start competing immediately. If not, they must wait one year. Once an athlete’s nationality change is approved, they can not submit another request for three years.

Across many sports, The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has recruited athletes from the Philippine diaspora. In Paris, former U.S. National Team Members Aleah Finnegan (who began representing the Philippines in 2022 and competes for LSU), Emma Malabuyo, and Levi Jung-Ruivivar (who both started representing the Philippines in 2023) will compete as individuals for the Philippines. Finnegan’s mother was born in the Philippines. Malabuyo (who represented the United States as an alternate at the 2020 Olympics and competes for UCLA) and Jung-Ruivivar (who is Stanford-bound in the fall) both have grandparents who were born in the Philippines.

In May, Jung-Ruvivar told us competing for the Philippines was always something she wanted to do, but until relatively recently, she intended to make the switch for the 2025-2028 quad.

When she switched gyms to WOGA at the end of 2022, Jung-Ruivivar was able to get in contact with Cliff Parks, the head coach of the Philippines National Team. “Once I started talking to him and realized there was a lot more opportunity for me to compete under the Filipino flag and also getting to represent the Philippines and qualify for the Olympics, I saw that as an opportunity and I jumped at it,” she said. “Also, everyone at the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has been super welcoming and has been super supportive.”

Tony Ruivivar, Jung-Ruvivar’s grandfather on her dad’s side, was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to the U.S. as a young adult. “There’s a lot of very unique cultural things about the Philippines that I feel like I grew up with because of my grandfather and because of my dad as well,” she said. “Flipinos love the entertainment industry and my family has been in the entertainment industry, my parents are both actors”.

For more on Levi Jung-Ruivivar, Click Here!

The Philippines has not sent a Woman’s Artistic Gymnast to the Olympics since 1964. Now with three WAG gymnasts and 6-time world medalist Carlos Yulo in Paris, gymnastics in the Philippines is rising. In fact, after competing at Asian Championships in May, Jung-Ruivivar went to Manilla to visit local gyms, hoping to help build local programs and recognition for gymnastics in the Philippines.

Luisa Blanco and Kevin Penev are also former U.S. National Team members who will represent their parents’ home countries in Paris. Blanco was a star at the University of Alabama in the NCAA for five years and will represent Colombia. Penev will represent Bulgaria. Both of his parents competed internationally for Bulgaria in gymnastics and along with his older brother Eddie, Penev has competed internationally for Bulgaria since 2022.

For more on Luisa Blanco, Click Here!

2023 World silver medalist on bars Kaylia Nemour represented France as a junior, but made the nationality switch in 2023 to represent Algeria. Many athletes make nationality switches peacefully, hoping to represent their heritage or get more competition experience, but Nemour has a different story. After knee surgeries in 2022, the French National Team doctor would not clear her to begin training again, even though her personal doctors did. The French Federation wanted Nemour to leave her gym to train in Paris, but she did not want to. She requested a nationality change to compete for her father’s country of Algeria. While the FIG accepted the request, the French Federation blocked it. In early 2023, the French Federation released Nemour to compete for Algeria which allowed her to compete at qualifying events for the Olympic Games. As a contender for medals on bars, beam, and in the All-Around, it’s very possible that Nemour could become one of the most successful African gymnasts of all time in Paris.

Rounding out the list of Paris Olympians who have made a nationality switch this quad is Georgia-Rose Brown, who is finally headed to the Olympics after trying since 2012. Brown competed for Australia most of her career, but made a nationality switch to represent New Zealand, her father’s home country, in 2023. Throughout the spring of 2023, she competed on bars at the FIG World Cup circuit and earned her spot in Paris.

Different from those who have made nationality changes, some athletes competing in Paris have dual citizenship, but have only ever competed for one country.

Lilia Cosman is Romanian-American and is set to represent Romania in Paris. She competed as a Level 10 in the U.S. until 2022, but never qualified to become an Elite. In 2022, she began competing for Romania and has since moved to Romania to train in Deva. In 2023, she helped Romania qualify to their first Olympics as a team since 2012. In 2024, she placed 8th in the All-Around and 4th on beam at 2024 Euros.

Her growth since 2022 has been incredible. In 2022, she had All-Around scores in the mid 46s at Elite qualifiers in the U.S. Now, she’s undoubtedly one of the top gymnasts in Romania with All-Around scores in the 52s.

Lais Najjar and Lynnzee Brown are both American-based gymnasts who will represent their parents’ home countries in Paris.

Najjar was born in the U.S. but spent much of his childhood living in Syria. Before the start of the Syrian Civil War, his family moved back to the United States. In 2016, when he was just 14 years old, he began competing in international competitions. While also competing for Syria internationally, Najjar competes for the University of Michigan in the NCAA.

“My household is Syrian,” Najjar told the Daily Michigan after he learned he qualified to Paris in June. “We speak Arabic, we practice all the traditions and customs and my parents are very much still more Syrian than American. And I would almost consider myself the same. I am extremely patriotic for Syria. All my family’s there. And if I had the chance to represent them, of course I would.”

Brown, who you might know as one of the most successful Denver gymnasts of all time in the NCAA or as an assistant coach for Penn State is Haitian-American and will become the first Haitian gymnast to compete in the Olympic Games later this month. She grew up training at GAGE in Missouri, but never competed internationally. In 2023, after graduating from Denver, she began competing in Elite meets for Haiti with hopes of qualifying for Paris. Now, she’s set to be one of just six Haitian athletes competing in Paris.

Notably, born in Turkey, but raised in Canada, Emre Dodanlı competed internationally for Turkey as a junior, but took a few years off of international competition. In 2021, he enrolled at the University of Oklahoma and has been a star in the NCAA ever since. In 2023, while traveling back and forth from the U.S. and Europe, he competed at the World Championships and helped Turkey qualify a team to Paris for the first time ever. Now heading into his senior year at OU, Dodanlı will represent Turkey in Paris.