{{short description|Irish artistic gymnast}} {{distinguish|text = the American actress Meg Ryan}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox gymnast | name = Megan Ryan | image = | image_size = | caption = | full_name = | altname = | nickname = Meg, Mugsy | country = {{GYM National Team|IRL|WAG}} | regions = | formercountry = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|2002|04|03|df=yes}} | birth_place = Cork, Ireland | hometown = | residence = | death_date = | death_place = | height = | weight = | discipline = WAG | natlteam = | club = Douglas Gymnastics Club | gym = | collegeteam = | headcoach = Emma Hamill | assistcoach = | formercoach = | choreographer = | music = | eponymousskills = | retired = | worldranking = | updated = | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{IRL}}}} {{MedalCompetition|FIG World Cup}} {{MedalCount |total=no |World Challenge Cup|0|1|0 }} }}
'''Megan "Meg" Ryan''' (born 3 April 2002)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Megan Ryan |url=https://olympics.ie/athlete/megan-ryan/ |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=Olympic Federation of Ireland}}</ref> is an Irish artistic gymnast who competed at the 2020 Olympic Games. She was the first Irish female gymnast to win a medal on the FIG World Cup series.
== Early life == Ryan was born on 3 April 2002 in Cork. She began gymnastics at age five after watching her older sister Hayley train.<ref name="fig">{{Cite web |title=Ryan Megan |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=60022 |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=International Gymnastics Federation}}</ref> She also played Gaelic football before she decided to concentrate on gymnastics.<ref name="rte">{{Cite web |last=Dennehy |first=Cathal |date=4 October 2019 |title=Irish teenage trio ready to make mark at World Gymnastics Championships |url=https://www.rte.ie/sport/other-sport/2019/1003/1080917-irish-teenagers-ready-to-make-mark-at-gymnastics-worlds/ |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=RTÉ}}</ref>
== Gymnastics career == === Junior === Ryan won the gold medal on every event at the 2016 Irish Championships, except for the uneven bars where she won the silver medal.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hopkins |first=Lauren |date=15 May 2016 |title=2016 Irish Championships Results |url=https://thegymter.net/2016/05/15/2016-irish-championships-results/ |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=The Gymternet}}</ref> She made her international debut at the European Championships where she finished 53rd in the all-around during the qualification round.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 June 2016 |title=31st European Championships in Women's Artistic Gymnastics Seniors and Juniors Junior Qualifications |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2016/euros/documents/wagjun/aaq.pdf |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=European Gymnastics}}</ref> In 2017, Ryan once again won the junior all-around at the Irish Championships.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hopkins |first=Lauren |date=14 May 2017 |title=2017 Irish Championships Results |url=https://thegymter.net/2017/05/14/2017-irish-championships-results/ |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=The Gymternet}}</ref> Then at the FIT Challenge, she finished seventh with the junior Irish team.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hopkins |first=Lauren |date=13 June 2017 |title=2017 FIT Challenge Results |url=https://thegymter.net/2017/06/13/2017-fit-challenge-results/ |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=The Gymternet}}</ref> She then competed at the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival and was chosen to be Ireland's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.<ref name="gitokyo">{{Cite web |date=9 July 2021 |title=Tokyo 2020 - Get to know Meg Ryan |url=https://www.gymnasticsireland.com/news/2021/tokyo-2020-get-to-know-meg-ryan |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=Gymnastics Ireland}}</ref> The team of Ryan, Jane Heffernan, and Emma Slevin finished 18th in the team competition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hopkins |first=Lauren |date=27 July 2017 |title=2017 European Youth Olympic Festival Results |url=https://thegymter.net/2017/07/27/2017-european-youth-olympic-festival-results/ |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=The Gymternet}}</ref> At the Northern European Championships, she finished 12th in the all-around final and fifth in the vault final.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hopkins |first=Lauren |date=21 October 2017 |title=2017 Northern European Championships Results |url=https://thegymter.net/2017/10/21/2017-northern-european-championships-results/ |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=The Gymternet}}</ref>
=== Senior === Ryan became age-eligible for senior competition in 2018. However, she missed the entire 2018 season after having surgery to remove an extra bone in her ankle.<ref name="fig" />
Ryan competed at the 2019 European Championships where she finished 49th in the all-around during the qualification round.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 April 2019 |title=8th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Women Artistic Gymnastics Qualification Individual Seniors |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2019/euros/documents/wagqaa.pdf |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=European Gymnastics}}</ref> She then won the gold medal in the all-around at the senior Irish Championships.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hopkins |first=Lauren |date=6 June 2019 |title=2019 Irish Championships Results |url=https://thegymter.net/2019/06/06/2019-irish-championships-results/ |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=The Gymternet}}</ref> She only competed on the balance beam at the Irish Super Championships, and she won the gold medal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 July 2019 |title=2019 Irish Super Championships Results |url=https://thegymter.net/2019/07/29/2019-irish-super-championships-results/ |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=The Gymternet}}</ref> At the Mersin World Challenge Cup, she won the silver medal on the uneven bars behind Nazli Savranbasi. This was Ireland's first medal at the women's FIG World Cup.<ref name="rte" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 September 2019 |title=Meg & Jane deliver first Women's World Cup podium finish for Ireland |url=https://www.gymnasticsireland.com/news/2019/meg-jane-deliver-first-womens-world-cup-podium-finish-for-ireland |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=Gymnastics Ireland}}</ref> She then competed at the 2019 World Championships where she finished 95th in the all-around in the qualification round.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 October 2019 |title=49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Stuttgart (GER), 4 October - 13 October 2019 Women's All-Around Qualification |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2019/worlds/documents/wag/qaa.pdf |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation}}</ref> Due to this result, she was initially the first reserve for the Olympic Games.<ref name="echo" /> However, after North Korea withdrew from the Olympics, Ryan received the spot that initially went to Kim Su-jong.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Tong-hyung |date=6 April 2021 |title=North Korea says it won't participate in Tokyo Olympics |url=https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-seoul-tokyo-health-south-korea-b42c808476a5e966a25162e4ed93095f |access-date=31 May 2021 |publisher=Associated Press}}</ref>
At the 2021 European Championships, Ryan decided to only compete on the uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise in order to build up towards the Olympic Games.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Slattery |first=Joel |date=21 April 2021 |title=Gymnastics: Emma Slevin makes history by securing spot in European final |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/othersport/arid-40272023.html |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=Irish Examiner}}</ref> She did not qualify for any of the event finals. At the Olympic Games, Ryan finished 72nd in the all-around during the qualification round with a total score of 47.199.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 July 2021 |title=Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Qualification |url=https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2021/w_21olympics_aaqual.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231220929/https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2021/w_21olympics_aaqual.pdf |archive-date=31 December 2022 |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=USA Gymnastics |publisher=Tokyo 2020 |pages=3}}</ref>
==Awards== Ryan received the Echo Women in Sport Award in 2019.<ref name="echo">{{Cite web |last=Noonan |first=Rory |date=18 April 2021 |title=Meg Ryan balances study and gymnastics with Olympics on the horizon |url=https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-40268942.html |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=Echo Live}}</ref> Gymnastics Ireland gave her the Rising Star award in 2017.<ref name="gitokyo" />
==Personal life== Ryan studies pharmacy at University College Cork.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 October 2021 |title=Douglas gymnast Meg Ryan on her amazing experience at the Olympics |url=https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-40719573.html |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=Echo Live}}</ref>
==Competitive history== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;" |- |+Competitive history of Megan Ryan at the junior level<ref name="gymternet">{{cite web |title=Megan Ryan |url=https://thegymter.net/megan-ryan/ |website=The Gymternet |access-date=24 July 2025}}</ref> |- ! scope="col" align=center|Year ! scope="col" align=center|Event ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|Team|Team event}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|AA|All-around}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|VT|Vault}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|UB|Uneven bars}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|BB|Balance beam}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|FX|Floor exercise}} |- ! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="2"|'''2016''' |align=left|Irish Championships|| || {{gold1}} || {{gold1}} || {{silver2}} || {{gold1}} || {{gold1}} |-bgcolor=#F5F6CE |align=left|Junior European Championships || || ''53'' || || || || |- ! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="4"|'''2017''' |align=left|Irish Championships|| || {{gold1}} || || || || |- |align=left|FIT Challenge|| 7 || 34 || || || || |- |align=left|European Youth Olympic Festival|| 18 || || || || || |- |align=left|Northern European Championships|| 7 || 12 || 5 || || || |} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;" |- |+Competitive history of Megan Ryan at the senior level<ref name="gymternet"/> |- ! scope="col" align=center|Year ! scope="col" align=center|Event ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|Team|Team event}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|AA|All-around}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|VT|Vault}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|UB|Uneven bars}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|BB|Balance beam}} ! scope="col" style="width:30px;"|{{Abbr|FX|Floor exercise}} |- ! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="6"|'''2019''' |-bgcolor=#F5F6CE |align=left|European Championships|| || ''49'' || || || || |- |align=left|Irish Championships|| || {{gold1}} || || || || |- |align=left|Irish Super Championships|| || || || || {{gold1}} || |- |align=left|Mersin World Challenge Cup|| || || 8 || {{silver2}} || || |-bgcolor=CCCCFF |align=left|World Championships|| ||''95''|| || || || |- ! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="2"|'''2021''' |-bgcolor=98FB98 | align=left|'''Olympic Games''' || ||'''''72'''''|| || || || |}
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{sports links}} * {{Instagram|mugsyryan123|Meg Ryan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Megan}} Category:2002 births Category:Living people Category:Irish female artistic gymnasts Category:Sportspeople from Cork (city) Category:Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic gymnasts for Ireland Category:21st-century Irish sportswomen