Name: Elina Vihrova
Club: International Gym Latvia
High School Graduation Year: 2021
NCAA Team: Penn State
Commitment Announcement: Twitter
Social Handles: Twitter | Instagram
Personal Bests
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise | All Around |
| 13.750 | 12.850 | 14.500 | 13.225 | 53.325 |
Videos
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise |
| 2020 Tiger Cup | 2020 Tiger Cup | 2020 Szombathely World Challenge Cup | 2020 Szombathely World Challenge Cup |
Recruit Rating*
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise | All Around | Rating |
| 17 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 72 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
*For more on our new Recruit Rating system, please take a look at our dedicated landing page.
About Elina
Vihrova is an elite from Latvia. She competed at the world championships in both 2018 and 2019, and at the European championships in 2019. In 2020 she won five gold medals at the Tiger Cup in Riga, Latvia, as well as a silver medal on beam at the Szombathely World Challenge Cup.
What She Brings to Penn State
Vault
- Skills: Yurchenko full/front handspring front pike half
- Results: 2020 Tiger Cup champion
- Margin of Improvement: Vihrova’s Yurchenko full is just fine, but her front handspring pike half is very interesting; she performs it nicely, and it is a 10.0 start value in college.
- Impact on the Team: If Vihrova can bring her front handspring pike half to Penn State, she will make an immediate impact on the lineup.
Uneven Bars
- Skills: Chow to Pak salto, Maloney to bail to handstand, blind full, straddled Jaeger, double pike dismount
- Results: 2019 Latvian national champion
- Margin of Improvement: Vihrova performs some difficult skills in her bar set, and with an easier routine in college, she has the potential to score into the 9.9s.
- Impact on the Team: Penn State was very strong on bars in 2020, with Lauren Bridgens and Cassidy Rushlow scoring two 9.925s. With Rushlow being only a freshman, the future looks bright for the Nittany Lions and will be even more so with the addition of Vihrova, who could be exceptional on this apparatus.
Balance Beam
- Skills: front pike mount, front somersault, BHS + LOSO, switch leap to switch leap half, full turn, front aerial, side aerial, double twist dismount
- Results: second place at the 2020 Szombathely World Challenge Cup
- Margin of Improvement: Vihrova is a bit tentative on some elements, and her leaps could be a tad more extended. She has plenty of potential, though, and as with bars, at Penn State she will be able to choose her best skills with which to build her collegiate routine.
- Impact on the Team: Penn State did well on beam in 2020, though it lost its best scorer, Tess McCracken, to graduation. Vihrova could become a strong contributor here with some further consistency and a modified routine.
Floor Exercise
- Skills: full-in, front tuck to double tuck, double pike, double twist
- Results: 2019 Latvian national champion
- Margin of Improvement: Vihrova’s landings are not always the cleanest, but her full-in mount, which is a recent upgrade, will make a big difference in college.
- Impact on the Team: It is hard to stand out on floor in elite, but Vihrova’s full-in and two other double salto passes will look very good in college. Penn State will be very pleased to have her.
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Article by Talitha Ilacqua
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