PHOTOS: WIMGYM
The Canadian Artistic Gymnastics Championship was held in Richmond, B.C, from May 26th-31st. This nationwide Championship assembled Canada's most elite gymnasts, namely, Montréal-born Olympian Rose-Kaying Woo, who took home the gold medal in the Senior High-Performance All-Around Final.
This year, West Island gymnastics club WIMGYM won an unprecedented amount of medals and ribbons across multiple levels. This competition marked the first in-person Canadian Championships since 2019, an exciting yet daunting reality for many gymnasts.
"After two years, without competing on a real competition platform, we were very excited and stressed, but the athletes quickly adapted to the environment and the equipment, which was different from what we normally use in the gym," noted WIMGYM's Competitive Communications Manager Monica Nolet.
Monica, Johanne Soucy and Claude Pelletier coach these athletes, who train anywhere from 24 to 28 hours a week. The results of this intensive training became known at the Championships, with award-yielding performances across all categories.
In the Novice High-Performance category, Lia Monica Fontaine collected four medals, three gold, and a bronze, as well as the title of Canadian Novice Champion. Victoria Fleury won 3 awards and is now the Canadian Novice Vice-Champion. Zoé Cadrin finished the All-Around Competition in 4th place and Gabrielle Elise Fausto came in 5th. Gabrielle also received a prize for the best floor choreography in her category. Lexi Pun finished in 9th position overall.
In the Junior High-Performance category, after 2 days of competition, Evandra Zlobec won the title of Canadian Junior Champion on bars and floor and finished 2nd overall. Cristella stood out on beam, winning 1st place, and the silver medal was awarded to fellow WIMGYM gymnast Maddison. Notably, Éléna Metz completed an impressive Yurchenko Full-Twist for her first time in competition to claim a 7th place finish on vault.
Monica Nolet also wished to recognize the Senior High-Performance competitor and Level 10 athletes: "Among the seniors, we had Ella who was in her first competition in this category. Her magnificent performance on beam concluded with an 8th place finish. We must not forget our 2 Level 10 athletes, trained by Ashliegh Normil. Florence St-Aubin and Kahlyn Lawson won the gold medal with the Quebec team and Leanne Desjardins finished 2nd with Team Quebec. Overall, our training went well and we were confident about our performance."
SOURCE: WIMGYM
