# Alja Ponikvar

Alja Ponikvar (born 17 February 2009) is a Slovenian rhythmic gymnast. She is a two-time (2023, 2024) Slovenian Junior All-Around champion, as well as the 2024 European Junior clubs silver medalist.

## Career

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

### 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.
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. Together with teammate Urša Kračman, she took 15th place in Team competition. She placed 21st with Hoop, 10th with Ball and 11th with Ribbon. 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). 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. Alja also qualified to two apparatus finals, winning historic silver medal in clubs and 7th place in ball final.

## Achievements

* 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

| Year | Apparatus | Music title |
| 2025 | Hoop | |
| 2025 | Ball | |
| 2025 | Clubs | |
| 2025 | Ribbon | |
| 2024 | Hoop | Gloria Regali by Tommee Profitt, Fleurie |
| 2024 | Ball | Reflection by Christina Aguilera |
| 2024 | Clubs | Stalker's Tango by Autoheart |
| 2024 | Ribbon | We are justice by Gabriel Saban |

## Competititve highlights

International: Junior :
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2024 | Balkan Junior Championships | | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | |
| 2024 | Junior European Championships | | 8th | 10th (Q) | 7th | 2nd | |
| 2024 | European Cup Baku | | | 8th | 7th | 12th (Q) | 10th (Q) |
| 2024 | IT Aphrodite Cup | 9th | | 21st (Q) | 4th | 7th | 42nd (Q) |
| 2023 | Balkan Junior Championships | | 3rd | | 3rd | 3rd | 4th |
| 2023 | Junior World Championships | | 15th | 21st (Q) | 10th (Q) | | 11th (Q) |
| 2023 | IT MTM Cup | 1st | | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| 2023 | IT Ritam Cup | 2nd | | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 5th |
| 2022 | IT Tart Cup | 6th | | 4th | 5th | 27th (Q) | 3rd |
| 2022 | Junior European Championships | | 17th | 26th (Q) | | | |
| 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) |||||||||