BANGKOK, Thailand — Gymnast Aleah Finnegan experienced a rollercoaster of emotions that made her gold medal finish in the vault event of the women’s artistic gymnastics in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games extra special.

Finnegan was initially judged second to Vietnam’s Thi Quynh Nhu Nguyen. However, Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president Cynthia Carrion and Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino stepped in to request a thorough computation.

After a long lull and with the correction made, Finnegan, with the Philippine flag draped on her shoulders, marched on the stage and to the top podium in a successful defense of the crown she won in the 2021 Hanoi edition of the biennial meet on Thursday at the Gymnasium 5 inside the Thammasat University Rangsit Campus in Pathum Thani here.

No women’s gymnastics was staged in the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games.

“This time around it means so much more. So much more went in to this round. I knew what’s at stake. I knew my competitors I was going up against. All I wanted to do is to hit a clean vault and I hit a clean vault and it took us forever to get the results,” Finnegan said.

The Filipina gymnast scored 13.433 to beat Nguyen (13.400) while Malaysia’s Kang Xian Yeap (12.966) took bronze.

“I was kind of chasing around the arena and trying to figure out what our final score was because we weren’t really sure. I’m a bit emotional still and it’s still settling in,” the Paris Olympics campaigner said.

“It didn’t really hit me until we got up to the podium and they officially announced it.”

Finnegan, who also won gold in the team event in Vietnam, will shoot for a second mint in the balance beam today.      

Meanwhile, first-time entry Haylee Garcia won silver in the uneven bars.

The 17-year-old gymnast scored 12.233 behind Malaysia’s Rachel Yeoh (13.300). Singapore’s Coleen Hong took bronze (10.933).

In the men’s division, Justine Ace De Leon salvaged two bronze medals in floor exercise and still rings.

De Leon had 12.500 total in floor exercise behind gold medalist Tikumporn Surintornta (14.000) and Malaysian Luqman Al Hafiz Zulfa (12.865).

He had 12.700 in the still rings behind Vietnam’s Van Khanh Phong Nguyen (13.787) and Indonesian Muhammad Aprizal (12.900).