Tonya Paulsson

Paulsson was born in Malmö in 2003.{{Cite web|url=https://sok.se/idrottare/idrottare/t/tonya-paulsson.html|title = Tonya Paulsson - Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté}} Her mother is originally from Taiwan.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-11-20 |title=Svenska gymnasten Tonya Paulsson byter landslag: "Inget förtroende" |trans-title=Swedish gymnast Tonya Paulsson changes national team: “No confidence” |url=https://www.svt.se/sport/gymnastik/svenskan-byter-landslag-inget-fortroende |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=SVT Sport |language=sv}} Paulsson began gymnastics at the age of eight in 2010, after her gymnastics coach neighbor noticed her flexibility and agility on the local playground.{{cite web|url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=66117|title=Tonya Paulsson FIG profile|work=FIG}}

Paulsson competed at the Unni & Haralds Trophy in Oslo where she finished fourth in the all-around but won gold on uneven bars.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2016/04/04/2016-unni-haralds-trophy-results/|title=2016 Unni and Haralds Trophy Results|work=The Gymternet|date=April 4, 2016}} The following month Paulsson competed at the Nordic Championships where she was limited to only competing on the uneven bars due to a knee injury. Despite the injury she helped Sweden finish first in the junior division.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2016/05/12/finland-iceland-top-medals-at-nordic-champs/|title=Finland, Iceland top medals at Nordic Championships|date=May 12, 2016|work=The Gymternet}} She next competed at the Swedish National Championships. She once again only competed on uneven bars but managed to finish first amongst the juniors.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2016/05/17/torres-defends-national-title-in-sweden/|title=Torres defends national title in Sweden|work=The Gymternet|date=May 17, 2016}}

Paulsson competed at a team selection competition for the 2017 Junior Nordic Championships where she placed first in the all-around ahead of Jessica Castles and she also recorded the highest scores on vault and uneven bars.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2017/05/07/2017-swedish-junior-selection-results/|title=2017 Swedish Junior Selection Results|work=The Gymternet|date=May 7, 2017}} At the Junior Nordic Championships Paulsson helped Sweden finish in third place. Individually she finished sixteenth in the all-around but won gold on uneven bars.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2017/05/20/2017-nordic-junior-championships-results/|title=2017 Nordic Junior Championships Results|work=The Gymternet|date=May 20, 2017}} In June she competed at the Flanders International Team Challenge where she helped Sweden finish ninth.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2017/06/13/2017-fit-challenge-results/|title=2017 FIT Challenge Results|work=The Gymternet|date=June 13, 2017}}

In late June Paulsson competed at the Swedish National Championships where she won silver in the all-around behind Ida Staafgård, silver on vault behind Castles, gold on uneven bars, bronze on balance beam behind Staafgård and Castles, and fourth on floor exercise.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2017/06/30/2017-swedish-championships-results/|title=2017 Swedish Championships Results|work=The Gymternet|date=June 30, 2017}} In November Paulsson competed at the Swedish Cup where she finished first amongst the juniors. During event finals she finished second on vault, first on uneven bars, third on balance beam, and fifth on floor exercise.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2017/11/14/2017-swedish-cup-results/|title=2017 Swedish Cup Results|work=The Gymternet|date=November 14, 2017}} She ended the season competing at the Top Gym Tournament where she finished tenth in the team competition, seventeenth in the all-around, thirteenth on vault, sixth on uneven bars.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2017/11/29/2017-top-gym-tournament-results/|title=2017 Top Gym Tournament Results|work=The Gymternet|date=November 29, 2017}}

Paulsson competed at the Youth Olympic Qualifier{{cite web|url=https://www.gymnastik.se/Nyheter/Nyheter/2018/tonyapaulssonklarforkvaltillyoutholympicgames/|title=Tonya Paulsson klar för kval till Youth Olympic Games|work=Svensk Gymnastik|language=sv|date=May 21, 2018}} where she finished in twelfth place and qualified Sweden for a spot at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2018/06/23/2018-youth-olympic-qualifier-results/|title=2018 Youth Olympic Qualifier Results|work=The Gymternet|date=June 23, 2018}} She next competed at the Nordic Championships where she helped Sweden finish second behind Norway. Individually she won silver in the all-around behind Mari Kanter of Norway, gold on uneven bars, and bronze on floor exercise. She finished sixth on balance beam.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2018/07/06/2018-nordic-championships-results/|title=2018 Nordic Championships Results|work=The Gymternet|date=July 6, 2018}} She next competed at the Swedish National Championships where she placed first in the all-around, on uneven bars, on balance beam, and on floor exercise.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2018/07/16/2018-swedish-championships-results/|title=2018 Swedish Championships Results|work=The Gymternet|date=July 16, 2018}} Paulsson competed at the European Championships but failed to qualify for any event finals. Paulsson was selected to represent Sweden at the 2018 Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires.{{cite web|url=https://www.gymnastik.se/tavling/tavlingsinriktning/Kvinnligartistiskgymnastik/aldrenyheter/2018/TonyaPaulssonuttagentillYouthOlympicGames/|title=Tonya Paulsson uttagen till Youth Olympic Games|language=sv|work=Svensk Gymnastik|date=August 6, 2018}} While there she qualified for the all-around and uneven bars finals.{{cite web|url=https://sok.se/arkiv-for-artiklar/2018-10-11-lagbrons-och-ny-finalplats-for-tonya.html|title=Lagbrons och ny finalplats för Tonya|language=sv|date=October 11, 2018|work=Swedish Olympic Committee}} During the all-around final she placed seventh.{{cite web|url=https://www.gymnastik.se/Nyheter/Nyheter/2018/jatteskrallavtonyapaulssonpaungdoms-osibuenosaires/|title=Jätteskräll av Tonya Paulsson på Ungdoms-OS i Buenos Aires|language=sv|work=Svensk Gymnastik|date=October 13, 2018}} During the uneven bars final she once again placed seventh.

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| image4 = 2018-10-10 Victory ceremony (Gymnastics mixed multi-discipline team) at 2018 Summer Youth Olympics by Sandro Halank–131.jpg

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Paulsson turned senior in 2019. She competed at the Swedish National Championships where she won gold in all-around and silver on uneven bars behind Jonna Adlerteg.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2019/07/04/2019-swedish-championships-results/|title=2019 Swedish Championships results|work=The Gymternet|date=July 4, 2019}} She next competed at the Heerenveen Friendly where she finished seventeenth in the all-around. She ended the season competing at the Mälar Cup where she finished second behind Alva Eriksson in the all-around and on floor exercise. Additionally she tied for second with Eriksson on uneven bars behind Iida Haapala. She finished first on balance beam.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2019/11/06/2019-malar-cup-results/|title=2019 Malar Cup Results|work=The Gymternet|date=November 6, 2019}}

In October Paulsson competed at the Swedish National Championships where she was able to retain her national title from the previous year. Additionally she won gold on balance beam and floor exercise and won silver on uneven bars behind Jonna Adlerteg.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2020/10/11/2020-swedish-championships-results/|title=2020 Swedish Championships Results|work=The Gymternet|date=October 11, 2020}}

Paulsson competed at the European Championships where she qualified to the all-around final; she placed 14th. In September Paulsson was selected to compete at the World Championships alongside Nathalie Westlund and Jennifer Williams.{{cite web|url=https://www.gymnastik.se/Nyheter/Nyheter/2021/klartvilkasomkommertavlaivmiartistiskgymnastik|language=sv|work=Swedish Gymnastics|title=Klart vilka som kommer tävla i VM i artistisk gymnastik|date=September 20, 2021}}

Paulsson contemplated quitting at the beginning of the year, but she decided to continue competing and began to pursue a switch in country to represent Taiwan.{{Cite web |last=Bergström |first=Kristoffer |date=2024-11-25 |title=Tonya Paulsson pratar ut: De skriver så sjuka saker |trans-title=Tonya Paulsson speaks out: They write such sick things |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/a/zAVydK/tonya-paulsson-overskoljd-av-rasism-efter-landsbytet |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=Aftonbladet |language=sv}}

In May, Paulsson competed at the European Championships. Due to recovering from a knee injury, she only competed on the uneven bars.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-10-06 |title=Gymnastik: Tonya Paulsson vann dubbelt i världscupfinalen: "Jag var i chock" |trans-title=Tonya Paulsson won twice at the World Cup final: "I was in shock" |url=https://www.svt.se/sport/gymnastik/tonya-paulsson-vann-varldscupfinalen-i-bom |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=SVT Sport |language=sv}}

Paulsson competed at the World Cup in Szombathely, Hungary in October. There she won silver on the uneven bars as well as gold on the balance beam and floor. She said that she was proud of her floor performance as that was her main focus for he competition. She also committed to attending the University of California, Berkeley as a collegiate gymnast beginning in the fall of 2025.{{Cite web |date=13 November 2024 |title=Cal Women's Gymnastics Pens 2025 Recruits |url=https://calbears.com/news/2024/11/13/womens-gymnastics-cal-womens-gymnastics-pens-2025-recruits.aspx |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=California Golden Bears Athletics |language=en}}

In November, Paulsson announced that she planned to switch her country representation from Sweden to Taiwan, her mother's home country. She said that she had lost trust in the leadership of Sweden's national team. A week later, she clarified that her training style did not work well with that expected at the national training center, which she visited periodically, and that she did not feel that she was treated properly there. She also said that she had received racist comments after announcing her country change, which the Swedish Gymnastics Federation denounced.

In February 2025, Paulsson's nationality change was confirmed by the International Gymnastics Federation.{{cite web|url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=4407816|title=Official news from the Executive Committee|date=February 27, 2025|work=International Gymnastics Federation}} Her performance in the National Intercollegiate Games from 27 April to 1 May 2025 qualified Paulsson for a position on Chinese Taipei's national gymnastics roster.{{cite news |last1=Li |first1=Chien-chung |last2=Chao |first2=Yen-hsiang |title=Motherland reborn: Taiwanese-Swedish gymnast Tonya Paulsson eyes 2028 Olympics |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/sports/202506110003 |access-date=11 June 2025 |agency=Central News Agency}}

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Category:2003 births

Category:Living people

Category:Swedish female artistic gymnasts

Category:Sportspeople from Malmö

Category:Gymnasts at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics

Category:21st-century Swedish sportswomen

Category:Swedish people of Taiwanese descent