Levi Jung-Ruivivar: An Inspiration to All

Since the start of her gymnastics career, Levi Jung-Ruivivar was known for her picture perfect form and superior toe point that had fans counting down the days until her NCAA debut. Ruivivar committed to Stanford, a school known for their pristine form. Prior to attending Stanford, Ruivivar was a high-class Elite gymnast, and represented the Philippines at the 2024 Paris Olympics. After making her Olympic debut, she moved to Stanford to prepare for her much anticipated collegiate debut. However, in January of 2025, Ruivivar announced her decision to redshirt her freshman year due to her struggles with an eating disorder. The announcement came as a surprise to many surrounding Ruivivar, but was also extremely inspirational for athletes all around the world for another high-level athlete to speak on such an important topic.   

“I think the decision to red shirt came as a shock to everybody in my life,” Ruivivar said. “I know it came as a shock to my coaches, for sure, because they were kind of unaware of what was going on with me. It also kind of came as a shock to myself a little bit, just because I feel like I’ve been pushing through something that was really hurting me for so long.”

Ruivivar revealed that the eating disorder was something she was struggling with prior to her time at Stanford, and before switching Elite gyms to train at WOGA. She continued to push through and keep quiet about the disorder, thinking this was the best decision for her to still accomplish her Olympic dreams. She entered her freshman year of college and immediately found joy in many aspects of her life. She was enjoying her academics, social life, and being a Stanford gymnast. However, she realized that her mental health was taking over her enjoyment of everything, no matter what she was doing. 

“It was really tainting my love for the sport, and I feel like it was just hurting me in a lot of different ways,” Ruivivar said. “Instead of continuing to push through, I felt the only real option was for me to take a complete step away from everything and just solely focus on myself and focus on getting treatment and everything that I needed in order to be more successful coming back, because I felt that everything was tainted by my eating disorder, and I thought that if I were to continue along that path, I would be able to continue doing the things I was doing, but I wouldn’t be able to excel in what I was doing.”

In order to excel in every aspect of her life, it was important for Ruivivar to solely focus on recovery and her well-being. She began treatment and took five months off from school, gymnastics, and any kind of physical training. Ruivivar acknowledges that this was no easy process. She expected to need one month in treatment and then return to her regular life. It took longer than she expected for her to return to her usual headspace and prepare to be an Elite athlete. While heartbreaking, Ruivivar feels that this was one of the best decisions of her life. 

“I really am happy that I made that decision, because it has genuinely changed my life so much in ways that I could not have imagined,” Ruivivar said. “I just feel like I’m in such a better place now, mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, just everything.”

Returning to the sport was a patient process. She began training again in late spring and started with strength training before stepping back into a gym. Her coaches eased her back into her typical schedule. Starting with an hour of practice, before eventually returning to her former timetable. 

 “The progression that my whole treatment team, as well as my coaches and medical staff at Stanford set out for me in order to really fully get myself back into the gym, integrate back with the team, and also make sure that everything was going well, Was really well-rounded,” Ruivivar said. “Looking at all the progression that led me to where I am now, and how stable and happy, and, well the gymnastics is going, they really were able to make sure that I got back into everything and even feel somehow better now than I did before.”

Recently, Ruivivar started training some of her difficult Elite gymnastics skills, and she feels she can do these skills easier than she ever has. 

“It really is crazy for me. I’m doing some of my Elite skills now that I was doing in the past, and it’s easier than it was before!”

An Inspiration

Speaking out on an important and personal topic was no easy task. Ruivivar admits that she still carries some shame about revealing her eating disorder to the public. 

“It’s not really fun to tell people,” she said. “If you look up my name, unfortunately, that’s something that comes up and it’s very public. People know about it. And that’s something I feel is a very vulnerable part of myself that I decided to share with the public.” 

Ruivivar understands that many gymnasts and other athletes in aesthetic based sports have faced similar struggles. Knowing that she could make other athletes feel safe and welcomed is one of the main reasons that she was comfortable with making this side of her public. In treatment, Ruivivar worked on reducing her shame about her disorder, and normalizing getting needed help. 

“For me, sharing my story, I would hope inspires others who are struggling to get help, and also, just to bring more awareness to any issues there are with body dysphoria, or any disorders or other mental health concerns that people have in sports, especially in elite sports and Olympic level sports where people are pushing themselves to their max,” she said. 

Ruivivar hopes to see more education done on how to train athletes to achieve excellence as well as take care of their mental and physical health. When she decided to redshirt her freshman year, she had reservations about revealing the reason for the year off. After conversations with her family and support system, she decided that it would be freeing for her to come forward. 

“I’m really happy I did, because I received many messages, one of just support from so many people, and two of people who specifically texted me or DMed me and were like, ‘Hey, I just want to let you know that I either really struggled with this in the past, and I wish I had someone like you who came forward and gave me like the strength to go into treatment.”

Receiving the messages and seeing how her story inspired so many helped her in her own recovery process, and also helped her understand that there is so much more to a person than their struggles. 

“I also think it’s important for people to realize you can talk about that and it’s not your whole identity,” Ruivivar said. “Having an eating disorder in the past and struggling with that, is something that I’ve dealt with, but it’s also separate of who I am, it is part of what has happened to me in the past, and part of a part of my story, and I want to be able to share that story with others in order to hopefully motivate or inspire them to get help.”

So Much More

Ruivivar is considered to be one of the most artistic gymnasts of her generation due to her balletic movement ability on floor exercise, and of course that incredible toe point. Her toe point is mentioned in many of her comments on social media. Her mom was a ballerina, but she actually gets her toe point from her dad…. who played football and did not have a need for such extraneous toe point. She jokes that she had to work hard for it, but in reality it’s just genetically the way she was born. She prides herself on having beautiful form, but recently her coaches realized that if even one toe was out of place then it would be extremely obvious due to how strong her form is. 

“My coaches always tell me, ‘Levi, you have the most gorgeous toes. You have beautiful lines and legs, and you have beautiful toes, and your feet always look great. So….. if they aren’t pointed, it’s very, very obvious. So you better point your toes, otherwise it’s gonna be very obvious if you flex your feet.’ So now I’m kind of stuck, like having to point my feet because if they aren’t pointing all the way it’s very, very noticeable!”

Ruivivar loves to take ownership over her floor routines. This year she is using music that she originally wanted to use for her Elite gymnastics routine. Her Elite coach, Anna Liukin, found the music, but they struggled to find a cut that did not have vocals. Stanford was able to remove the vocals making it the perfect routine for her collegiate debut. After the routine was choreographed, Ruivivar went back and touched it up with her own choreography. Choreography is something she greatly enjoys and will even spend free time over breaks to just work on dance. While she hasn’t fully choreographed routines on her own, it is something she is interested in starting. 

“When I can’t fall asleep at night, I literally just play floor music and imagine different choreography, and it helps me go to sleep,” Ruivivar said. “I have this five-hour playlist at this point, like a bunch of different songs. So keeping them, just in case I would ever want to do choreography as I’m transitioning into career.”

Olympic Fire Burns Bright

“Obviously, the ultimate goal is 2028, especially because it’s in LA where I was born. And I loved the last Olympics. I want to do it again.”

It’s no secret that Ruivivar still has a strong desire to return to Elite gymnastics and the Olympic Games. She is in a better mental space than she was in 2024, and feels she can enjoy the experience more. Her goal is to return to Elite gymnastics at the Asian Championships later this year. Ruivivar’s Olympic experience was somewhat tainted due to having an anaphylactic tree nut allergy happening a week before the competition. Her teammate, Aleah Finnegan, was extremely supportive and helped her through this allergy. 

“She is literally, like a second mom,” Ruivivar said. “She’s genuinely one of the sweetest people that I know. At the Olympics, she was taking me under her wing and giving me all the support. She was there when I had my anaphylactic tree nut allergy, and scooped me up!” 

Despite her allergy, Ruivivar still got the most out of her Olympic experience. She enjoyed meeting athletes from all over the world and achieving a life-long dream. Her path to the games was challenging. She qualified via the world cup series and gained one of the Olympic spots on the uneven bars. The field was competitive and forced Ruivivar to compete at her very best to secure her Olympic spot. Heading into the final world cup, she realized that she had nothing to lose and went for an upgraded routine. She displayed the routine of her life punching her ticket to Paris. There was a massive Filipino fanbase cheering Ruivivar from the audience, making the competition special. Ruivivar formally competed for team USA, making the switch to the Philippines in 2023. 

 “I think a huge part of me just really wanted to explore my heritage in the Philippines, and also being able to travel to Asia my grandfather had just passed away, and he was from the Philippines and always wanted to take me there. That was a big part of why I decided to make the transition.”

Her and her teammates’ Olympic debuts inspired an entire nation, and had the whole Philippines awake in the middle of the night to watch them compete. 

 “We went and visited the president, and he told us that the president of Malaysia and him had been like in communication, and the president of Malaysia told the President of the Philippines that his daughter woke him up at 3am to watch us compete, because she really wanted to watch me, Aleah, and Emma compete, and that everybody in the Philippines was up like all hours the night, just like supporting us and cheering us on.”

Gymnastics sign ups in the Philippines have overflowed due to the success of Filipino gymnasts at the Olympics.

NCAA Ready

Ruivivar is ready to focus on her first NCAA season. Her goals include becoming an All-American, getting a perfect 10.0, and helping her team compete at the highest level. Most importantly, she wants to soak in every moment of being a college athlete. Whether that means having study dates with teammate Ana Barbosu, competing weekly with her team, or making TikToks with her teammates, Ruivivar enjoys every minute. 

“Stanford is such an exceptional place,” she said. “Everywhere that I go is insanely beautiful. There’s many study rooms, the professor, the classes. I’m so happy that I’m at Stanford, literally wouldn’t have chosen anything different. It’s not only signing me up for this next four years, but the rest of my life. And I feel like that’s a decision that I’m so happy that I made, because their resources here are unmatched.”

Ruivivar’s story is one of courage and strength, and has inspired many athletes across the globe. She has found her joy and passion for the sport she loves. That joy is evident when watching her compete for the Cardinals and watching her bright smile makes me and fans all around the world smile right back.

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