Alja Ponikvar
| Alja Ponikvar | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alja Ponikvar | |||||||||||
| Born | 17 February 2009 Ljubljana, Slovenia | |||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | ||||||||||||
| Discipline | Rhythmic gymnastics | |||||||||||
Country represented |  Slovenia (2022-) | |||||||||||
| Club | Narodni dom | |||||||||||
| Gym | Gimnastični center Ljubljana | |||||||||||
Head coach | Alena Yakubouskaya | |||||||||||
Assistant coach | Alena Salauyova | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Alja Ponikvar (born 17 February 2009) is a Slovenian rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2024 European Junior clubs silver medalist.
On national level, she is the 2026 Slovenian all-around and a two-time (2023, 2024) Slovenian Junior all-around champion.
Career
[edit]As pre-junior, she is the 2022 Slovenian All-Around champion[1] and the 2021 Slovenian All-Around silver medalist.[2]
Junior
[edit]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.[3]
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.[4] Together with teammate Urša Kračman, she took 15th place in Team competition. She placed 21st with Hoop, 10th with Ball and 11th with Ribbon.[5][6] 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).[7] 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.[8] Alja also qualified to two apparatus finals, winning historic silver medal in clubs and 7th place in ball final.[9] In September, she competed at 2nd Balkan Championships in Budva, Montenegro. She won gold medal in team competition with teammate Urša Kračman, gold in ball and clubs final and silver medal in hoop final.[10]
Senior
[edit]Alja became a senior in 2025, but missed the spring season, including Slovenian Championships, due to a stress fracture in her foot that began developing at the end of 2024 and forced her to sit out much of the season.[11][12] At the end of June, she presented two new compositions at a competition in Slovenia. In July, she made her senior international debut at Milano World Cup, where she took 35th place in all-around.[13] In August, she was selected to represent Slovenia at the 2025 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[14][12] She took 46th place in all-around qualifications.[15]
In 2026 she started her season competing at MTM tournament in Ljubljana and won silver medals in clubs and ribbon finals behind Darja Varfolomeev.[16] On March 28-30, she competed at Sofia World Cup, taking 60th place in all-around, due to mistakes on first day.[17][18] In April, she won gold medal in all-around at Slovenian Championships.[19] She competed at Baku World Cup, and took 23rd place in all-around. She was selected to represent Slovenia at the 2026 European Championships, but withdrew due to back injury.[20] In August, she was selected to represent Slovenia at the 2026 World Championships in Frankfurt, Germany.
Achievements
[edit]- First Slovenian rhythmic gymnast to qualify to Apparatus final at Junior European Championships.
- First Slovenian rhythmic gymnast to win a medal in an Apparatus final at Junior European Championships.
- First Slovenian rhythmic gymnast to win a silver medal at the Junior European Championships.
Routine music information
[edit]| Year | Apparatus | Music title |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Hoop | Final Act by Power-Haus, Ros Stephen |
| Ball | Remember My Name by Power-Haus, Lloren, Berlin Aires, Jonathon Deering | |
| Clubs | ||
| Ribbon | Winter by Duomo | |
| 2025 | Hoop | Final Act by Power-Haus, Ros Stephen |
| Ball | Believer by Christina | |
| Clubs | ||
| Ribbon | Horizon of Memories by Eternal Eclipse | |
| 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 | |
Competitive highlights
[edit]| International: Senior | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon | |
| 2026 | World Cup Baku | 23rd | 21st (Q) | 24th (Q) | 21st (Q) | 32nd (Q) | ||
| World Cup Sofia | 60th | 79th (Q) | 36th (Q) | 54th (Q) | 55th (Q) | |||
| IT MTM Cup | 7th | 14th (Q) | 23rd (Q) | 2nd | 2nd | |||
| 2025 | World Championships | 46th (Q) | 39th (Q) | 43rd (Q) | 51st (Q) | 54th (Q) | ||
| World Cup Milan | 35th | 43rd (Q) | 32nd (Q) | 30th (Q) | 28th (Q) | |||
| International: Junior | ||||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon | |
| 2024 | Balkan Junior Championships | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | |||
| Junior European Championships | 8th | 10th (Q) | 7th | 2nd | ||||
| European Cup Baku | 8th | 7th | 12th (Q) | 10th (Q) | ||||
| IT Aphrodite Cup | 9th | 21st (Q) | 4th | 7th | 42nd (Q) | |||
| 2023 | Balkan Junior Championships | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | |||
| Junior World Championships | 15th | 21st (Q) | 10th (Q) | 11th (Q) | ||||
| IT MTM Cup | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||
| IT Ritam Cup | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 5th | |||
| 2022 | IT Tart Cup | 6th | 4th | 5th | 27th (Q) | 3rd | ||
| Junior European Championships | 17th | 26th (Q) | ||||||
| IT Irina Deleanu Cup | 23rd | 24th (Q) | 31st | 29th (Q) | 30th (Q) | |||
| National: Senior | ||||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon | |
| 2026 | Slovenian Junior Championships | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | ||
| National: Junior | ||||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon | |
| 2024 | Slovenian Junior Championships | 1st | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | ||
| 2023 | Slovenian Junior Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
| 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
[edit]- ↑ "DRŽAVNO PRVENSVTO V RITMIČNI GIMNASTIKI INDIVIDUALNO 2022". ksis.eu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ↑ "DRŽAVNO PRVENSTVO V RITMIČNI GIMNASTIKI ZA POSAMEZNICE 2021". ksis.eu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ↑ "European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships Junior Individual Team Final Results" (PDF). Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ↑ "Alja Ponikvar odlično pričela s svetovnim prvenstvom" (in Slovenian). Slovenian Gymnastics Federation. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ↑ "2023 Junior World Championships Result Book" (PDF). International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
- ↑ "Mladinke na SP presegle pričakovanja, Alja Ponikvar na pragu elite" (in Slovenian). 11 July 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ↑ "2024 European Cup Results". European Gymnastics. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ↑ "2024 European Championships Result Book" (PDF). europeangymnastics. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ↑ "Alja Ponikvar je mladinska evropska podprvakinja" (in Slovenian). 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ↑ "BALKAN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS". rgform.eu. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
- ↑ "22. maja je minilo natanko eno leto, odkar je Alja Ponikvar osvojila srebro na mladinskem evropskem prvenstvu — v vaji s kiji 🥈". Instagram (in Slovenian). 28 May 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
- 1 2 "Mlada Alja Ponikvar brez pritiska po izkušnje na svetovno prvenstvo" [Young Alja Ponikvar heading for experience to World Championships with no pressure] (in Slovenian). 2025-08-13. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
- ↑ "2025 World Cup Milano All-around Results" (PDF). Federazione Ginnastica d’Italia. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
- ↑ "Top stars named for Rhythmic Worlds in Rio". International Gymnastics Federation. 2025-07-25. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
- ↑ "Alja Ponikvar debitantski nastop na SP v Riu začela z 39. mestom" (in Slovenian). 21 August 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ "38. MTM LJUBLJANA FIG AND NON FIG TOURNAMENT". ksis.eu. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
- ↑ "FIG WORLD CUP 2026 SOFIA (BUL) Results Book". www.gymnastics.sport. International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
- ↑ "🇧🇬🤸♀️ Za nami je prvi svetovni pokal v ritmični gimnastiki, ki se je odvijal v prestolnici Bolgarije". Instagram (in Slovenian). 30 March 2026. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
- ↑ "DRŽAVNO PRVENSVTO V RITMIČNI GIMNASTIKI INDIVIDUALNO 2026". ksis.eu. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
- ↑ "Mlada slovenska ekipa po izkušnje na evropsko prvenstvo" (in Slovenian). 21 May 2026. Retrieved 24 May 2026.