Alyona Shchennikova

Yelena Aleksandrovna "Alyona" Shchennikova (born May 12, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. An elite gymnast since 2014, she is a two-time member of the U.S. National Team and moved up to the senior division in 2017 where she became the all-around champion at the 2017 U.S. Classic.[2]

Alyona Shchennikova
Full name	Yelena Aleksandrovna Shchennikova[1]
Nickname(s)	Alyona
Country represented	United States
Born	(2001-05-12) May 12, 2001 Layton, Utah USA
Residence	Evergreen, Colorado USA
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior Elite
Years on national team	2017 – 2019 (USA)
Club	5280 Gymnastics
College team	LSU Tigers (2020–2023)
Head coach(es)	Alex Shchennikov
Assistant coach(es)	Katia Shchennikova
Medal record Representing  United States City of Jesolo Trophy 2017 Jesolo Team Voronin Cup 2018 Moscow All-Around 2018 Moscow Uneven Bars 2018 Moscow Balance Beam

Early life

Shchennikova was born in Layton, Utah in 2001 to Russian immigrants. She has two sisters, Polina and Kristina, both of whom are gymnasts.[3]

Career

Senior

2017

Shchennikova turned senior in 2017 and was added to the Senior National Team.[4] She competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy where the USA placed first. She also placed eighth in the All-Around.[5] In July, Shchennikova competed at the U.S. Classic where she placed first in the All-Around and second on Uneven Bars behind Ragan Smith.[6][7] In August she competed at the National Championships where she placed eighth in the All-Around.[8]

2018

Shchennikova competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy as an individual due to the US not fielding a team.[9] She placed fourth in the uneven bars. In the summer she competed at the American Classic where she placed third on uneven bars. She later competed at the U.S. Classic where she placed fifth in the All-Around and second on uneven bars behind Riley McCusker.[10] In August Shchennikova competed at the National Championships. She placed ninth in the all-around and fifth on the uneven bars behind Simone Biles, McCusker, Morgan Hurd, and Trinity Thomas.[11] She was later named as the alternate to the 2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships.[12]

In October Shchennikova participated in the Worlds Team Selection Camp. During the competition she placed third on uneven bars behind McCusker and Biles, eighth on balance beam, and ninth in the all-around, on vault, and on floor exercise.[13]

In December Shchennikova competed at the Voronin Cup in Moscow. She placed first in the all-around and on uneven bars and placed second on balance beam behind Maria Kharenkova.[14]

2019

In February Shchennikova was named to the team to compete at the 2019 L'International Gymnix competition in Montreal alongside Sloane Blakely, Kara Eaker, and Aleah Finnegan.[15] While there she helped the USA win team gold. Individually she won silver in the all-around behind Eaker and on uneven bars behind Ana Padurariu of Canada and won bronze on floor exercise behind Azuki Kokufugata of Japan and Haley de Jong of Canada.[16]

In June, while Shchennikova was doing verification for the 2019 Pan American Games, she ruptured her achilles tendon and announced that she would be out for the remainder of the season.[17][18] In August she officially signed her National Letter of Intent with Louisiana State University and will be joining their gymnastics team[19] in the 2019–2020 season.[20]

NCAA

2019–2020 season

Shchennikova made her collegiate debut in a meet against Arizona, where she only competed on the uneven bars.

Competitive history

Junior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2013	National Qualifier (HOPEs)			4
	U.S. Challenge (HOPEs)
2014	American Classic		6		7
	U.S. Classic		19	27	21	20	30
	U.S. National Championships		24	28	9	30	25
2015	U.S. Classic		20	30	9	21	30
	U.S. National Championships		15	26		24	24
2016	American Classic		4
	U.S. Classic		11	10		32	33
	U.S. National Championships		17	8	26	12	19

Senior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2017	City of Jesolo Trophy		8
	U.S. Classic					14	5
	U.S. National Championships		8		9	16	9
2018	City of Jesolo Trophy		26		4
	American Classic					12
	U.S. Classic		5			7	19
	U.S. National Championships		9		5	12	9
	Worlds Team Selection Camp		9	9		8	9
	Voronin Cup						4
2019	International Gymnix

NCAA

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2020	SEC Championships	Canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in the USA [21]
	NCAA Championships

References

1. "5 Minutes With Alyona Shchennikova". Inside Gymnastics. July 27, 2017.
2. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_17classic_sr.pdf
3. https://usagym.org/pages/athletes/athleteListDetail.html?id=330664
4. "USA Gymnastics names U.S. Team for Jesolo Trophy". USA Gymnastics. March 25, 2017.
5. "2017 City of Jesolo Trophy Results". The Gymternet. April 2, 2017.
6. "Alyona Shchennikova Secures Senior All-Around Title At 2017 U.S. Classic". FloGymnastics. July 29, 2017.
7. "Shchennikova, Malabuyo win all-around titles at 2017 U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 29, 2017.
8. "Smith grabs first U.S. all-around title on final night of P&G Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 20, 2017.
9. "U.S. Gymnasts Set To Compete At 2018 City of Jesolo Trophy". FloGymnastics. February 19, 2018.
10. "Biles, Wong win all-around titles at 2018 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 28, 2018.
11. "Biles wins fifth senior women's all-around title at 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 19, 2018.
12. "USA Gymnastics names U.S. Women's Team for 2018 Pan Am Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 20, 2018.
13. "Biles wins U.S. women's World Team Selection Camp competition". USA Gymnastics. October 11, 2018.
14. "Alyona Shchennikova Won Two Golds At The Voronin Cup". Gymnovosti. December 14, 2018.
15. "USA Gymnastics announces women's spring international team assignments". USA Gymnastics. February 24, 2019.
16. "USA wins four junior, senior event titles at 2019 Gymnix International". USA Gymnastics. March 10, 2019.
17. "Shchennikova achilles announcement". Instagram. June 28, 2019.
18. "Alyona Shchennikova tore her Achilles". Gymnovosti. June 29, 2019.
19. "So excited to officially call myself an LSU Tiger!!!!💜💛 #geauxtigers @lsugym". Instagram. August 13, 2019.
20. "Gymnastics Announces Signing of Alyona Shchennikova". LSU Sports Network. August 15, 2019.
21. "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA. March 13, 2020.

External links

• Alyona Shchennikova at USA Gymnastics