Alona Tal Franco
| Alona Tal Franco | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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אלונה טל פרנקו | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) Tal Franco at the 2023 Junior World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 7 March 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Rhythmic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country represented |  Israel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Maccabi Tel Aviv | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coach(es) | Ayelet Zussman, Julieta Cantaluppi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alona Tal Franco (Hebrew: אלונה טל פרנקו; born 7 March 2009) is an Israeli rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2023 Junior World champion with the hoop and a silver medalist in the team event and the 2024 Junior European silver medalist in the hoop and with the team. She won a gold medal in the team event at the 2022 Junior European Championships. On national level, she is the 2022 Israeli Junior all-around champion.
Early life
[edit]Tal Franco was born on 7 March 2009. She has a twin brother named Adam who competes in artistic gymnastics. She was put into rhythmic gymnastics in first grade because of her natural flexibility.[1]
Gymnastics career
[edit]Junior
[edit]In June 2022, Tal Franco was selected for her first European Championships in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributing a hoop routine toward the gold medal in the team event with Daniela Munits, Michelle Munits, and Lian Rona,[2] as well as bronze in the hoop final behind Elvira Krasnobaeva and Liliana Lewinska.[3]
In July 2023, she competed at the Junior World Championships in Cluj-Napoca, where she became Junior World champion with the hoop,[4][5][6] and she won silver in the team event alongside Lian Rona, Regina Polishchuk, Yael Aloni Goldblatt and the junior national group.[7]
The following year, she competed in the 2024 European Cup in Baku, winning gold medals in the team event with Meital Maayam Sumkin and with the ball and ribbon.[8][9][10] On 22 May, she won a team silver medal with Maayan Sumkin at the European Championships in Budapest.[11] Additionally, she won a silver medal in the hoop final behind Amalia Lică and a bronze medal in the clubs final behind Lică and Alja Ponikvar.[12]
Senior
[edit]Tal Franco became age-eligible for senior competitions in 2025. On 18–20 April, she made her FIG World Cup debut in Baku,[13] and finished in 10th place in the all-around.[14] She also qualified for the clubs final and finished eighth.[15] Then at the 2025 European Cup, she won a bronze medal in the ball final behind Stiliana Nikolova and Vera Tugolukova.[16]
In 2026, Alona competed at Baku World Cup and took 8th place in all-around. She took 4th place in clubs final. In May, she competed at European Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. She was 9th in hoop, ball and clubs, and 11th in ribbon. She took silver medal in all-around behind Liliana Lewinska at Gdynia Rhythmic Stars.[17] On May 16-17, she competed at the World Challenge Cup in Portimão. She finished 6th in the individual all-around competition, and won a gold medal in the clubs final.[18]
In the end of May, at the 2026 European Championships in Varna, Alona finished in 12 place at the all-around final.[19] She won silver in the team event with Daniela Munits and the Israeli senior group.[20] She finished 4th in the clubs final. [21]
Routine music information
[edit]| Year | Apparatus | Music title |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Hoop | New Day Will Rise by Yuval Raphael |
| Ball | La Cumparsita (feat. Gil Shohat) by Yasmin Levy | |
| Clubs | חביב אלבי by Static & Ben El, Nasrin Kadri | |
| Ribbon | Kiss of the Spider Woman by Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna & Tonatiuh | |
| 2025 | Hoop (First) | The Code (Orchestral Version) by Nemo & Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn |
| Hoop (Second) | New Day Will Rise by Yuval Raphael | |
| Ball | À nos folies by Léa Paci | |
| Clubs | חביב אלבי by Static & Ben El, Nasrin Kadri | |
| Ribbon | Dancin' Fool by Gary Wilmot & The Copacabana Ensemble | |
| 2024 | Hoop | Burn Butcher Burn from The Witcher Season 2 Soundtrack by Joey Batey |
| Ball | À nos folies by Léa Paci | |
| Clubs | Vengo Anch'io by Paolo Belli | |
| Ribbon | The World Has Gone Insane by Anthony Warlow | |
| 2023 | Hoop | Lord & Master by Apashe |
| Ball | Oogie Boogie's Song by Ken Page, Ed Ivory (from The Nightmare Before Christmas) | |
| Clubs | Etre Un Homme Comme Vous by Ben l'Oncle Soul | |
| Ribbon | The Waltzing Cat by Leroy Anderson | |
| 2022 | Hoop | Io Kant by Banda Osiris |
| Ball | Oogie Boogie's Song by Ken Page, Ed Ivory (from The Nightmare Before Christmas) | |
| Clubs | Etre Un Homme Comme Vous by Ben l'Oncle Soul | |
| Ribbon | The Waltzing Cat by Leroy Anderson |
References
[edit]- ^ "להתאמן, להתפלל, לזכות: הסוד של אלופת העולם הטרייה לנוער בהתעמלות אמנותית" [Train, pray, win: The secret of the new world junior champion in artistic gymnastics]. Ynetnews (in Hebrew). 22 July 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "Israel crowned junior European team Champions". European Gymnastics. 15 June 2022. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ Imagine the Impossible (PDF). Tel Aviv 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships. 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ "Krasnobaeva, Tal Franco add golds for Bulgaria and Israel". International Gymnastics Federation. 9 July 2023. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
- ^ Steinke, Matt (9 July 2023). "Keys earns first-ever U.S. medal at Rhythmic Junior World Championships". USA Gymnastics. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Junior World Championships. Swiss Timing. 2023. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ אורן, אהרוני (9 July 2023). "עשתה היסטוריה: אלונה טל פרנקו אלופת העולם בהתעמלות אמנותית לנוער". כל הזכויות שמורות לישראל היום (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
- ^ "Junior Teams" (PDF). European Gymnastics. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "Junior Ball Final" (PDF). European Gymnastics. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "Junior Ribbon Final" (PDF). European Gymnastics. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "European Gymnastics". European Gymnastics. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "Romania's Amalia Lica shines with three individual titles at #Budapest2024". European Gymnastics. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "Rhythmic Olympic champions back in action at Baku World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 16 April 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "Seven nations strike gold at the Rhythmic World Cup in Baku". International Gymnastics Federation. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "Results for FIG World Cup 2025 Baku (AZE)". International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "European Cup 2025 Rhythmic Gymnastics Qualification Individual Seniors Ball" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 15 May 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "GDYNIA RG STARS". gdyniastars.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 11 May 2026.
- ^ "Rhythmic World Challenge Cup Portimão 2026". 17 May 2026. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ^ "European Championships Individual All-around Final" (PDF). europeangymnastics.com. 30 May 2026.
- ^ "Team final results" (PDF). 30 May 2026.
- ^ "Clubs final results" (PDF). 31 May 2026.
External links
[edit]- Alona Tal Franco at World Gymnastics
- Alona Tal Franco at InterSportStats
- Alona Tal Franco on Instagram
