This Kansas City area gym sent 3 athletes to world championships. The Paris Olympics could be...

Aleah Finnegan, Leanne Wong, and Lynnzee Brown all trained at Great American Gymnastics Express, known as GAGE, in Blue Springs. One of them has already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Three gymnasts made local history when they converged at the world championships in Belgium this week. They all have roots at the same Kansas City-area gym.

Aleah Finnegan, Leanne Wong and Lynnzee Brown sprang from Great American Gymnastics Express in Blue Springs. Two of them made a big splash at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, and one qualified for the Olympics.

“It’s really special to see all of them here. It’s really exciting,” said Finnegan, 20. The Lee’s Summit native is now a gymnast on the Louisiana State University women’s team.

Finnegan qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics based on her fifth-place finish among athletes whose countries don’t participate in team events. Finnegan will represent the Philippines, where her mother was born and Aleah first visited at age 5.

“I have the opportunity to represent them and I really want to make sure I’m making them proud,” said Finnegan. “(I’m) really appreciating where our family heritage has come from. We’re really blessed here in the States, but it’s really important to look back on that.”