Alja Ponikvar

Last updated
Alja Ponikvar
Full nameAlja Ponikvar
Born (2009-02-17) 17 February 2009 (age 17)
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Gymnastics career
Discipline Rhythmic gymnastics
Country
represented		Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
(2022-)
ClubNarodni dom
GymGimnastični center Ljubljana
Head coach(es)Alena Yakubouskaya
Assistant coach(es)Alena Salauyova
Medal record
Representing Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
Junior European Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2024 Budapest Clubs

Alja Ponikvar (born 17 February 2009) is a Slovenian rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2024 European Junior clubs silver medalist.

Contents

On national level, she is the 2026 Slovenian all-around and a two-time (2023, 2024) Slovenian Junior all-around champion.

Career

As pre-junior, she is the 2022 Slovenian All-Around champion [1] and the 2021 Slovenian All-Around silver medalist. [2]

Junior

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

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] In April, she won gold medal in all-around at Slovenian Championships. [18] She competed at Baku World Cup, and took 23rd place in all-around.

Achievements

Routine music information

YearApparatusMusic title
2026HoopFinal Act by Power-Haus, Ros Stephen
BallRemember My Name by Power-Haus, Lloren, Berlin Aires, Jonathon Deering
Clubs
RibbonWinter by Duomo
2025HoopFinal Act by Power-Haus, Ros Stephen
BallBeliever by Christina
Clubs
RibbonHorizon of Memories by Eternal Eclipse
2024HoopGloria Regali by Tommee Profitt, Fleurie
BallReflection by Christina Aguilera
ClubsStalker's Tango by Autoheart
RibbonWe are justice by Gabriel Saban

Competitive highlights

International: Senior
YearEventAATeam Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon
2026 World Cup Baku 23rd21st (Q)24th (Q)21st (Q)32nd (Q)
World Cup Sofia 60th79th (Q)36th (Q)54th (Q)55th (Q)
IT MTM Cup7th14th (Q)23rd (Q)2nd2nd
2025 World Championships 46th (Q)39th (Q)43rd (Q)51st (Q)54th (Q)
World Cup Milan 35th43rd (Q)32nd (Q)30th (Q)28th (Q)
International: Junior
YearEventAATeam Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon
2024Balkan Junior Championships1st2nd1st1st
Junior European Championships 8th10th (Q)7th2nd
European Cup Baku 8th7th12th (Q)10th (Q)
IT Aphrodite Cup9th21st (Q)4th7th42nd (Q)
2023Balkan Junior Championships3rd3rd3rd4th
Junior World Championships 15th21st (Q)10th (Q)11th (Q)
IT MTM Cup1st1st1st1st1st
IT Ritam Cup2nd1st2nd3rd5th
2022IT Tart Cup6th4th5th27th (Q)3rd
Junior European Championships 17th26th (Q)
IT Irina Deleanu Cup23rd24th (Q)31st29th (Q)30th (Q)
National: Senior
YearEventAATeam Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon
2026 Slovenian Junior Championships 1st1st2nd1st1st
National: Junior
YearEventAATeam Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon
2024 Slovenian Junior Championships 1stDNSDNSDNSDNS
2023 Slovenian Junior Championships 1st1st1st1st1st
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

  1. ↑ "DRŽAVNO PRVENSVTO V RITMIČNI GIMNASTIKI INDIVIDUALNO 2022". ksis.eu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  2. ↑ "DRŽAVNO PRVENSTVO V RITMIČNI GIMNASTIKI ZA POSAMEZNICE 2021". ksis.eu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  3. ↑ "European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships Junior Individual Team Final Results" (PDF). Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "Alja Ponikvar odlično pričela s svetovnim prvenstvom" (in Slovenian). Slovenian Gymnastics Federation. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  5. ↑ "2023 Junior World Championships Result Book" (PDF). International Gymnastics Federation . Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  6. ↑ "Mladinke na SP presegle pričakovanja, Alja Ponikvar na pragu elite" (in Slovenian). 11 July 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  7. ↑ "2024 European Cup Results". European Gymnastics. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "2024 European Championships Result Book" (PDF). europeangymnastics. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  9. ↑ "Alja Ponikvar je mladinska evropska podprvakinja" (in Slovenian). 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  10. ↑ "BALKAN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS". rgform.eu. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. 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.
  13. ↑ "2025 World Cup Milano All-around Results" (PDF). Federazione Ginnastica d’Italia. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  14. ↑ "Top stars named for Rhythmic Worlds in Rio". International Gymnastics Federation. 2025-07-25. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  15. ↑ "Alja Ponikvar debitantski nastop na SP v Riu začela z 39. mestom" (in Slovenian). 21 August 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  16. ↑ "38. MTM LJUBLJANA FIG AND NON FIG TOURNAMENT". ksis.eu. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  17. ↑ "🇧🇬🤸‍♀️ 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.
  18. ↑ "DRŽAVNO PRVENSVTO V RITMIČNI GIMNASTIKI INDIVIDUALNO 2026". ksis.eu. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
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