Charleroi, Belgium: Canada reigns supreme over the 15th Annual Top Gym meet results
The 15th Top Gym meet, held this past weekend in Charleroi, Belgium, saw Canada as the strongest contender. Canadian gymnasts took home two event titles and five individual medals.
The Top Gym meet is held on an annual basis in Belgium for junior elite gymnasts who are ineligible to compete in the upcoming Olympic Games.
The event finals were held on Sunday, which was the last day of the meet. Canadian gymnast Briannah Tseng performed a DTY and Yurchenko 1 ½ flawlessly to earn the title for the vault. Her topping score was 14.350 points.
The other event title was brought home by the Canadian junior, Maddie Copiak, on floor exercise, where the winning score was 13.600 points.
World Class Gymnastics’ Maegan Chant obtained the bronze for Canada on the balance beam routine.
This was another feather in the gymnast’s cap. Up until now, Chant had been known for her difficult double-twisting Tsukahara on the vault and her seamless double layout, full pike routine on floor exercise. This accomplishment establishes her as a more
complete gymnast.
It seems the Former Romanian gymnast Cristina Bontas is doing a good job of training Chant to achieve versatility.
BC’s Shallon Olsen, was undoubtedly a star throughout the meet. In the event finals she secured two medals. Her vault earned her a bronze medal while her floor exercise landed her a silver medal.
In the all-around, the 11-year-old put Canada’s name in the top three when she obtained a bronze medal, missing the silver by 1.200 points.
The all-round title went to Russia’s Evguenia Shelgunova with 56.200 points. Italian gymnast Alessia Leolini bagged the silver with 53.650 points to her claim.
It is important to recognize Olsen’s performance on the vault in the all-around segment. At 15.050 points, her score was well ahead of the title-winner Shelgunova’s 14.150 points and Leolini’s 14.050 points, and was the highest in the entire meet.
The team finals had mixed teams. The title went to the mixed Canadian/Russian team that scored a whopping 104.650 points.
This was an emblematically apt summary of the country standings in this year’s meet as Russia was the next best contender after Canada.
The team comprised of all-around gold medallist Shelgunova, Yulia Chemareva (who won the uneven bars event final), vault title-winner Tseng, and Tara Mauchel.
The Belgium/Sweden team (Kim Singmuang, Ellen Rabaut, Berangere Fransolet and Lovisa Estberg) was placed second.
The third place was occupied by Netherlands/Great Britain team (Caitlin Tsang, Marrtje Ruikes, Chantysha Netteb, and Georgina Hockenull).
Last year, the United States had shown a similar reigning over Top Gym medals and honours. This year’s edition saw Canada showing vast improvement and accelerating to the top.
Keeping all gymnasts uninjured, Canada’s prospects for the next Olympic Games seem positive. The current group of juniors shows potential of becoming Olympic hopefuls.
Tags: