Lauren Grüniger
Lauren Grüniger is a Swiss individual rhythmic gymnast.
Personal life
Grüniger was born in Zurich to a Swiss father and a Singaporean mother, and she has a younger sister. She grew up speaking German and English. She is also fluent in Italian and Russian, and she has studied French.Career
At ten years old in 2017, Grüniger attended a training camp in Moscow. She asked her parents if she could stay to continue training. After a long discussion, her father agreed to let her live there with a host family, as the training conditions were better there than in Switzerland; for example, there was ample access to training areas with sprung floors that reduce the impact of jumps, while there was only one intermittently available in Switzerland. She attended a German school and continued to train in Moscow through at least the end of 2021. Grüniger spoke positively about her experiences training in Russia.In 2021, as a junior, Grüniger won her first medal at an International Gymnastics Federation tournament in June, a bronze. She also had the highest score of all gymnasts at the Swiss National Championships that year.
In 2022, she competed in the junior event at the Irina Cup, which was used as a selection event for the European Championships by the Swiss Gymnastics Federation. She won the bronze medal in the ball final. She was selected for the junior team at the European Championships and competed with ball only; she was 24th with that apparatus, and she and her teammates placed 18th in the team competition.
Grüniger began competing as a senior in 2023. Her first international senior competition was the Gymnastik International in March, where she placed 10th and qualified for the hoop and ball finals. She was selected for the 2023 European Championships along with Norah Demierre, and she placed 42nd in the all-around qualifications.
She injured her foot at school at the end of 2023 and took several weeks off training to recover. She did not compete in early 2024, but she returned to compete at the Swiss National Championships in June, where she won silver in the all-around behind Sophia Carlotta Chiariello.
In 2025, she competed at the World Challenge Cup in Portimão, where she placed 12th in the all-around and qualified for the clubs and ribbon finals. At the Swiss National Championships, she won the senior title and three of the four event finals. In June, she competed at her second European Championships, where she placed 30th in the all-around qualifications and narrowly missed qualifying to the final. She said afterward, "Of course I'm disappointed, but I'm also proud of my performance." She also competed at the 2025 Summer World University Games in July, where she placed 12th in the all-around.
She was selected to compete at her first World Championships in August, and ahead of the Championships, she trained in Germany. At the Championships, she placed 30th in the all-around qualifications.