Alja Ponikvar (born 17 February 2009) is a Slovenian rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2024 European Junior clubs silver medalist.
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 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. 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.
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. 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. In August, she was selected to represent Slovenia at the 2025 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She took 46th place in all-around qualifications.
In 2026 she started her season competing at MTM tournament in Ljubljana and won silver medals in clubs and ribbon finals behind Darja Varfolomeev. On March 28-30, she competed at Sofia World Cup, taking 60th place in all-around, due to mistakes on first day. In April, she won gold medal in all-around at Slovenian Championships. She competed at Baku World Cup, and took 23rd place in all-around. She was selected to represent Slovenia at the 2026 European Championships, but withdrew due to back injury. In August, she was selected to represent Slovenia at the 2026 World Championships in Frankfurt, Germany. She took 54th place in all-around qualifications. Afterwards, she represented Slovenia alongside Dora Valant at the 2026 Mediterranean Games in Taranto, Italy, and took 6th place in all-around 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 YearApparatusMusic title 2026Hoop Final Act by Power-Haus, Ros StephenBallRemember My Name by Power-Haus, Lloren, Berlin Aires, Jonathon DeeringClubsRibbon Winter by Duomo2025Hoop Final Act by Power-Haus, Ros StephenBallBeliever by ChristinaClubsRibbon Horizon of Memories by Eternal Eclipse2024Hoop Gloria Regali by Tommee Profitt, FleurieBallReflection by Christina AguileraClubsStalker's Tango by AutoheartRibbon We are justice by Gabriel Saban
Competitive highlights International: Senior Year EventAATeamHoopBallClubsRibbon 2026Mediterranean Games6thWorld Championships54th (Q)68th (Q)57th (Q)34th (Q)49th (Q)World Cup Baku23rd21st (Q)24th (Q)21st (Q)32nd (Q)World Cup Sofia60th79th (Q)36th (Q)54th (Q)55th (Q)IT MTM Cup7th14th (Q)23rd (Q)2nd2nd2025World Championships46th (Q)39th (Q)43rd (Q)51st (Q)54th (Q)World Cup Milan35th43rd (Q)32nd (Q)30th (Q)28th (Q) International: Junior Year EventAATeamHoopBallClubsRibbon2024Balkan Junior Championships1st2nd1st1stJunior European Championships8th10th (Q)7th2ndEuropean Cup Baku8th7th12th (Q)10th (Q)IT Aphrodite Cup9th21st (Q)4th7th42nd (Q)2023Balkan Junior Championships3rd3rd3rd4thJunior World Championships15th21st (Q)10th (Q)11th (Q)IT MTM Cup1st1st1st1st1stIT Ritam Cup2nd1st2nd3rd5th2022IT Tart Cup6th4th5th27th (Q)3rdJunior European Championships17th26th (Q)IT Irina Deleanu Cup23rd24th (Q)31st29th (Q)30th (Q) National: SeniorYearEventAATeamHoopBallClubsRibbon2026Slovenian Junior Championships1st1st2nd1st1st National: JuniorYearEventAATeamHoopBallClubsRibbon2024Slovenian Junior Championships1stDNSDNSDNSDNS2023Slovenian Junior Championships1st1st1st1st1st 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)
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