Ming van Eijken

Ming Gherardi van Eijken (born 3 April 2008)^[1] is a French artistic gymnast. She is the 2023 Junior World Championships and 2024 European bronze medalist on vault. She represented France at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Van Eijken was born in 2008 in Hong Kong. She began gymnastics when she was three years old in France.^[2] She was born to a Dutch father, French mother, and has an Italian grandfather.^[3]

Van Eijken competed at the 2022 City of Jesolo Trophy where she helped France finish sixth as a team.^[4] In August she competed at the European Championships where she helped France finish fifth as a team.^[5] During event finals van Eijken won silver on vault behind Sabrina Voinea.^[6]

In March van Eijken competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge where she helped France place fourth as a team. Individually she won gold on vault and placed fifth on floor exercise.^[7] Van Eijken was selected to compete at the 2023 Junior World Championships in Antalya, Turkey alongside Lana Pondart and Lilou Viallat; the team finished in eleventh place.^[8] Individually van Eijken qualified for the vault final. During the final van Eijken performed two clean vaults and won the bronze medal behind Mia Mainardi and July Marano, earning France its first ever Junior World Championship medal.^[9]

Van Eijken was selected to make her senior international debut at the 2024 Trophy of Jesolo where she won gold on vault. In May she competed at the European Championships alongside Marine Boyer, Lorette Charpy, Coline Devillard, and Morgane Osyssek.^[10] During event finals she won bronze on vault behind teammate Devillard and Valentina Georgieva of Bulgaria. During the team final van Eijken helped France win the bronze medal behind Italy and Great Britain.

In July van Eijken was officially selected to represent France at the 2024 Olympic Games alongside Boyer, Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos, Devillard, and Osyssek.^[11] They finished eleventh in qualifications and did not advance to the team final.^[12]