The Paris Olympics are coming up in just a matter of days. One of the most popular sports there will be artistic gymnastics. For a sport that relies on music, there’s bound to be some crossover with Eurovision. So, let’s take a look at some Eurovision-themed gymnastics routines, both from those you’ll see in Paris and from across the sport.
Naomi Visser
If you read our figure skating editorial last year, you may remember the name Naomi Visser. The Dutch gymnast used France’s 2021 entry, “Voilà”, as her floor music throughout 2022 and 2023. During this time, Visser recorded top-six finishes on floor at European and World levels in both seasons. While she has since changed her music, Visser will make her long-awaited Olympic debut in Paris as part of a Dutch team looking to return to the team final after missing it in Tokyo.
Aleah Finnegan
Former US national team member Aleah Finnegan now competes for the Philippines. While competing for her college team, reigning national champions LSU, Finnegan used a mix of Spain’s 2022 entry “SloMo” alongside “Loco” by ITZY. She used this music at the 2023 World Championships in Belgium, where she secured her Olympic berth, the first Filipina gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since 1964 (and one of three who will take part at the games in Paris).
Jordyn Wieber
One from the history books. 12 years ago in London, Jordyn Wieber led the US team to their first team gold since 1996. As part of the “Fierce Five”, Wieber performed on floor to Ukraine’s 2004 winning entry “Wild Dances”. She had also used the music the year prior, where she became the World All-Around champion at the World Championships in Tokyo.
Denver
In the US, collegiate sports are a much bigger thing than they are in Europe. If you’ve ever thought about following them, specifically collegiate gymnastics, may I suggest Denver as your team? They have a history of using Eurovision music for their floor routines. For instance, recent graduate Jessica Hutchinson used Eurovision music for two of her four routines in college. In 2022, she used Ukraine’s 2021 entry “Shum”; this past season, she used a mix including Portugal’s 2023 entry “Ai Coração”, which received a shoutout from Mimicat herself. Her teammate Madison Ulrich used a combination of 2023 entries for her routine this year, Albania’s “Duje” and Norway’s “Queen of Kings”. As you may be able to guess, their choreographer is a very big Eurovision fan, so who knows, maybe we’ll see some of 2024’s entries in Denver’s lineup next season.
Martina Maggio
Martina Maggio has been one of the most important gymnasts to the Italian national team in recent years. She was an alternate to Italy’s historic 2019 World Championships team that won a team medal for the first time since 1950. Additionally, she competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, won team gold, floor silver and all-around bronze at the 2022 European championships and finished sixth at the 2022 World Championships floor final, just behind Naomi Visser. Maggio used Russia’s 2020 entry “Uno”. Injuries will keep Maggio out of Paris, but she serves as an alternate for an Italian team looking to win an Olympic team medal for the first time since 1928.
Fun fact, I am somewhere in this video. See if you can spot me in the background.
For a full preview of artistic gymnastics at the 2024 Olympics, including a schedule and where to watch, you can check out the Olympic Channel.
Will you be checking out the artistic gymnastics at Paris 2024? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky for all your Eurovision news!
News Source: FIG, NCAA
Photo Credit: Yves Herman / Reuters
Euan T
Simone Biles is going to use Israel 2023 too. Why isn’t this mentioned