Alja Ponikvar

Alja Ponikvar (born 17 February 2009) is a Slovenian rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2023 Slovenian Junior All-Around champion, as well as the 2024 European Junior clubs silver medalist.

Alja Ponikvar
Full nameAlja Ponikvar
Country representedSlovenia
Born (2009-02-17) 17 February 2009
Ljubljana, Slovenia
HometownLjubljana
DisciplineRhythmic gymnastics
LevelJunior International Elite
Years on national team2022-
ClubNarodni dom
GymGimnastični center Ljubljana
Head coach(es)Alena Yakubouskaya
Assistant coach(es)Alena Salauyova
Medal record
Representing  Slovenia
Junior European Championships
2024 BudapestClubs

Career

As pre-junior, she is the 2022 Slovenian All-Around champion and the 2021 silver medalist.

Junior

As the youngest member of the team (still a pre-junior) she competed at the 2022 Junior European Championships and placed 17th in Team competition (out of 33 countries) together with teammates Ela Polak, Asja Pučnik and Nika Zajc.[1]

After winning gold medal in all five events at the 2023 Slovenian Junior Championships, she was selected to represent Slovenia at the 2023 Junior World Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.[2] Together with teammate Urša Kračman, she took 15th place in Team competition. She placed 21st with Hoop, 10th with Ball and 11th with Ribbon.[3] At 1st Balkan Championships in November 2023, she won bronze medal in Clubs and Ball final, as well as in Team competition.

In 2024, she competed at 1st European Cup, held in Baku, Azerbaijan and qualified to two apparatus finals (8th in Hoop and 7th in Ball).[4] Alja was selected to represent Slovenia together with Urša Kračman at the 2024 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. They placed 8th in Team competition which is the best Slovenian result.[5] Alja also qualified to two apparatus finals, winning historic silver medal in clubs and 7th place in ball final.[6]

Achievements

Routine music information
Year Apparatus Music title
2024 Hoop Gloria Regali by Tommee Profitt, Fleurie
Ball Reflection by Christina Aguilera
Clubs Stalker's Tango by Autoheart
Ribbon We are justice by Gabriel Saban

Competititve highlights
International: Junior
Year Event AA Team Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon
2024Junior European Championships8th10th (Q)7th2nd
European Cup Baku8th7th12th (Q)10th (Q)
IT Aphrodite Cup9th21st (Q)4th7th42nd (Q)
2023Balkan Junior Championships4th3rd3rd3rd4th
Junior World Championships15th21st (Q)10th (Q)11th (Q)
IT MTM Cup1st1st1st1st1st
IT Ritam Cup2nd1st2nd3rd5th
2022IT Tart Cup6th4th5th27th (Q)3rd
Junior European Championships17th26th (Q)
National: Junior
Year Event AA Team Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon
2024Slovenian Junior Championships1stDNSDNSDNSDNS
2023Slovenian Junior Championships1st1st1st1st1st
Q = Qualifications (Did not advance to Event Final due to the 2 gymnast per country rule, only Top 8 highest score);
WR = World Record; WD = Withdrew; NT = No Team Competition; OC = Out of Competition (competed but scores not counted for qualifications/results)

References
  1. "European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships Junior Individual Team Final Results" (PDF). Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  2. "Alja Ponikvar odlično pričela s svetovnim prvenstvom" (in Slovenian). Slovenian Gymnastics Federation. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  3. "Mladinke na SP presegle pričakovanja, Alja Ponikvar na pragu elite" (in Slovenian). 11 July 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  4. "2024 European Cup Results". European Gymnastics. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  5. "2024 European Championships Result Book" (PDF). europeangymnastics. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  6. "Alja Ponikvar je mladinska evropska podprvakinja" (in Slovenian). 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.