By MARK REY MONTEJO
Paris Olympian Levi Jung-Ruivivar made a historic NCAA Division I debut for Stanford University as she reigned in the uneven bars of the women’s artistic gymnastics with a powerful performance.
For her near-perfect performance, the 19-year-old Fil-American 9.875 points in the said apparatus to beat Mila Brusch (9.85) of University of Denver for the coveted title in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) matchup.
Ruivivar, along with Paris Games floor exercise bronze medalist Romania’s Ana Bărbosu, helped the Cardinal amass 196.475 points but narrowly losing to the Pioneers, who scored 196.575.
Bărbosu, on the other hand, took the ACC Newcomer of the Week, thanks to her five Top Four finishes (vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor, and all-around).
The charming 5-foot-6 gymnast vowed to train and work harder on her routines as she set her sights on this year’s Asian Championship, where she once won a bronze, and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“Right now I’m looking at Asian Championships,” said Ruivivar in her interview with Inside Gymnastics.
“And the ultimate goal is 2028, especially because it’s in Los Angeles where I was born,” she added.
But before her dream of a fitting Olympic return to her birthplace, Ruivivar, along with Carlos Yulo as well as Emma Malabuyo, and Aleah Finnegan, banner the national contingent when the country hosts the 2026 Asian Gymnastics Championships.
In the 2024 edition held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Ruivivar bagged a bronze medal in the uneven bars. She also won a silver in the same event of the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Doha, Qatar in the same year.
