Canadian women collect artistic gymnastics silver at Commonwealth Games
Canadian Women’s Team Performance
Canada‘s women’s artistic gymnastics team achieved a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday, recording a score of 157.300. This marked the second consecutive day that Canada earned a podium finish in gymnastics, demonstrating the team’s depth, consistency, and resilience across all four apparatus.
The silver-medal winning team included Ellie Black, Gabrielle Black, Lia-Monica Fontaine, Lia Redick, and Alyssa Guerrier-Calixte. Each member contributed to the team’s strong showing, with individual performances highlighting their skills.
Fontaine led the Canadian team on vault with a powerful display. Ellie Black delivered one of the team’s top routines on the balance beam. Redick showcased a dynamic performance on the floor exercise, while Guerrier-Calixte contributed an important vault score. Gabrielle Black also made a valuable contribution to the team’s overall performance.
Ellie Black, a women’s all-around finalist, expressed her excitement about competing again, noting it was her first all-around competition since returning. She mentioned that she had only recently resumed training vault and floor, and those events were still progressing. She also stated her pride in competing all-around with her team and experiencing the Commonwealth Games once more, emphasizing her enjoyment.
Individual Qualifications and Apparatus Finals
The individual qualifications showcased Canada‘s depth, with the team securing multiple spots in apparatus finals. Ellie Black and Fontaine both advanced to the women’s all-around final after strong qualification performances. Black topped the standings with a score of 53.400, qualifying first overall, while Fontaine secured her place in the final in fifth with a score of 52.050.
Fontaine also topped the vault standings with a score of 13.750. Ellie Black advanced to the uneven bars final, placing second with a score of 13.850. Both Ellie Black and Fontaine will represent Canada in the balance beam final, qualifying fifth and sixth respectively, with scores of 12.900 and 12.850. Redick was named second reserve on uneven bars with a score of 12.650.
Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Gold
The Canadian men’s artistic gymnastics team also achieved success, placing first with 241.400 points on Friday at the Glasgow International Arena. They finished ahead of England, which scored 238.250, and Australia, which scored 235.650. This victory marked Canada‘s first Commonwealth Games gymnastics team title in 20 years.
The men’s team earned scores across various apparatus: 41.950 on vault, 40.600 on rings, 40.350 on parallel bars, 39.650 on pommel horse, 39.550 on floor exercise, and 39.300 on horizontal bar. Félix Dolci of Laval, Que., led the individual standings with 81.650 points. The gold medal-winning team also included William Émard, Ethan Ikeda, Jordan Carroll, and René Cournoyer.
Team coach Jean-Sébastien Tougas described the competition as very exciting from beginning to end, noting the athletes’ happiness with their performances. He added that they had worked hard for this result, expected it, and delivering it was an amazing feeling.
Other Canadian Performances at the Games
In swimming, Oliver Dawson of Grand Prairie, Alta., competing in his first Commonwealth Games, finished fourth in the men’s 100-metre breaststroke final with a time of 59.70, just .05 seconds shy of a podium finish. Ella Jansen of Burlington, Ont., placed eighth in the women’s 200-metre freestyle test with a time of 1:59.18, earning a spot in the finals for the second consecutive night. Paralympian Emma Van Dyk was seventh in the 200M S14 freestyle event, clocking a time of 2:31.24.
In Para swimming, Mary Jibb of Muskoka, Ont., secured a bronze medal in the women’s 200-metre individual medley SM10. Jack Gill of Brockville, Ont., added a second Para swimming bronze in the men’s 100-metre butterfly S10 final. Jibb, who experienced a stroke as a child, expressed her excitement about being at her first Commonwealth Games and the integration of Para swimming into the event. The 21-year-old Gill was thrilled to medal with his parents watching, noting it was his first time being around the Olympic side of the Canadian program.
Canada‘s 3×3 wheelchair basketball teams also started strong. The women’s team, defending their Commonwealth Games gold, defeated South Africa 19-3, with Élodie Tessier scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds. Tessier praised her team’s focus throughout the game. The men’s team, led by Reed Michael De’aeth with eight points and 11 rebounds, defeated Kenya 16-3. Both Canadian squads are scheduled to face their English counterparts on Sunday.
The Commonwealth Games, featuring 3,000 athletes from 74 countries and territories, will continue through August 2. Canada has accumulated four medals in the first two days of the competition, including one gold and one silver.
Source: sportsnet.ca
