Alaina Kwan

Alaina Kwan
— Gymnast ♀ —
Full name	Alaina Sue Kwan
Country represented	Belarus
Regions represented	1
Former countries represented	USA
Born	(1998-07-29) July 29, 1998 Mission Viejo, California, USA
Hometown	Cypress, California, USA
Level	Senior International Elite
Club	AOGC
College team	Kentucky Wildcats
Head coach(es)	Artur Akopyan
Last updated on: August 4, 2015.

Alaina Sue Kwan (born July 29, 1998 in Mission Viejo) is an American-born Belarusian artistic gymnast.^[1] She is the daughter of 1984 Olympic diver, Andy Kwan.

Personal life

Kwan was born on July 29, 1998 in Mission Viejo, California to parents, Andy and Amy Kwan. She has one younger sister, Ally (b. circa 2001), who is also a gymnast.^[2][3] She attends Cypress High School and is set to graduate in 2016.^[4][5]

Gymnastics career

2013–15: Level 10 career

Kwan started competing Level 10 for the 2013 season, following a move to All Olympia Gymnastics Center. She placed twenty-third in the all-around at States; competing only two events.^[6] In March 2014, Alaina participated in the National Elite Qualifier in California but failed to meet the qualification requirement.^[7] During the championship season, she finished eighth in the all-around at States^[8] and fifteenth at Regionals.^[9] On October 22, 2014, Kwan committed to the Kentucky Wildcats women's gymnastics team.^[10]

Kwan placed second in the all-around at States, behind Kennedi Edney, and also won two silver medals on vault and bars. In addition, she was the floor champion too.^[9] At Regionals, she ended up third in the all-around and took home the floor title again.^[11] Kwan qualified to J.O. Nationals but elected not to attend.

2015–present: Elite career

A year before, in 2014, Kwan took part in an Elite Qualifier but didn't qualify to elite status. In March 2015, she participated in the National Elite Qualifier in Los Angeles and qualified to Senior International Elite status.^[12] At the 2015 U.S. Classic in Chicago, Kwan was ninth in the all-around.^[13] She didn't advance to U.S. Nationals.^[14]

On September 30, 2015, International Gymnast Magazine announced that she and All Olympia Gymnastics Center elite teammate, Kylie Dickson, had joined the Belarusian National Gymnastics team; despite having no affiliation to the country.^[15] The process was co-ordinated by the pair's coaches, Artur Akopyan who is Soviet Armenian and Galina Marinova; a Bulgarian, as well as Nellie Kim, President of the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee and fellow countrywoman. This sparked outrage from gymnastics fans, criticizing Kim and the AOGC coaches.^[16][17][18] It is thought she will represent Belarus with Dickson at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.^[19]

Kwan competed at the 2015 World Championships for Belarus on October 24, 2015.^[20] A month later, she signed the National Letter of Intent to the University of Kentucky.^[21]

References