Gymnast Profiles: Sarah Finnegan

This week's gymnast profile is Sarah Finnegan.

Vital Statistics:

Birthday: November 14, 1996
Age:15

Place of Birth: St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Current Residence: Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Club: Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE)

Coach: Al and Armine Fong
Known For: Floor Exercise, Artistry

In her first year as a senior elite, Sarah has been making quite the show for herself.
Her performances at the US Olympic Trials earned her a spot as an alternate on the US Olympic Team along with fellow first year senior Elizabeth Price and NCAA transplant, Anna Li.

Sarah also comes from an athletic family, her father, Don Finnegan was an All-American wrestler and she has three sisters who are also gymnasts. She trains with veteran coach Al Fong, who has coached 2004 Olympians Terin Humphrey and Courtney McCool. As a junior, Sarah was a floor exercise national champion on the floor exercise, she also scored the gold medal for floor at the 2011 CoverGirl Classic.

Her first year as a senior elite gymnast, Sarah was chosen to compete with the USA at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Jesolo, Italy where she earned a bronze medal in the all around. Continuing forward, over Memorial Day weekend, she competed in the Secret Classic, the qualifier for the National Championships.  She caught national attention with her second place finish on floor and a third place finish on the balance beam.

That June, she competed in her hometown of St. Louis at the VISA National Championships. Sarah continued to grab the attention of USA gymnastics fans and kept grabbing the attention of women's team coordinator Marta Karolyi, who was impressed by Sarah's performances saying she thought Sarah was "world class".

"[Sarah is a] world-class gymnast, has the international look. She still has to get a tiny bit sturdier. Yesterday or the day before, the beam routine was solid and beautiful. Today it was a little bit shaky. She needs to work on just presenting very consistently what she can do."

Sarah scored a silver medal on the balance beam and a ticket to the Olympic Trials in San Jose. She placed sixth in the all-around and earned a spot as an alternate for the Olympic team.

Here is Sarah's floor routine from the 2012 Secret Classic:

Hopefully, we will see Sarah competing as a full-fledged member of team USA in Rio.