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| Chantelle at the 2001 Spring Cup |
For the past three seasons, Chantelle Tousek has been a stalwart in Canada's High Performance program. With an artistic flair and stylish performances, Tousek, often referred to as "Yvonne's little sister," has developed into a gymnast of quality in her own right. For the majority of her gymnastics career, Tousek trained at the Cambridge Kips gymnastics club under Olympic coaches Elvira Saadi and Vladimir Kondratenko, but she recently relocated to the Guelph Saltos under ???.
As a young athlete, Tousek showed great promise in the sport, and often turned heads with both her name and exercises. The year 1997 proved to be a successful debut on the national level for Tousek, with a 4th place all-around finish as a novice at the Canadian championships. In 1998, she competed in her first year as a junior, and took 10th place in the all-around despite problems with her uneven bars and balance beam routines both days. Later that same year, Tousek qualified to the Senior High Performance Program based on her performance at Elite Canada in Toronto. There she placed 16th all-around, again with some problems on bars, but she showed her capabilites with the sixth best total on the floor exercise.
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In 1999, Tousek continued to progress with an excellent showing at the Canada Winter Games. As well as taking 3rd place in the all-around, she took home the gold medal in the floor final (triple twist; 2 ½ twist-punch front; whip-double twist-Shushunova). Tousek also threw a solid Hristakieva in the vault finals, finishing tied for fifth. A gold medal in the all-around had also been within reach, but a fall on her 2 ½ twist dismount off the balance beam kept Tousek off the podium.
Her next meet was a big one indeed, competing as a senior at the prestigious Bluewater International. There, she placed 19th all-around and came 4th on vault. She followed this up with a 12th place finish in the all-around at the national championships, where she earned a 9.475 on the floor exercise. A fractured ankle in training kept Tousek out of the Elite Canada competition, which was especially frustrating, as less than a month prior she had taken first place all-around at the Ontario Tour Selection meet in Mississauga.
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In 2000, the Olympic year, Tousek went up against a talented roster at the Bluewater International. She placed 24th in the all-around, her best score being a 9.100 on the floor exercise. At the national championships, she placed a very strong 10th AA thanks to her fourth place finish on floor (9.3 average score). Even with her strong performance at the nationals, Tousek just missed being selected among the 12 athletes to compete at the Canadian Olympic Trials. Seemingly undaunted by her exclusion, Tousek capped the year with a 7th place finish at the Elite Canada competition in Winnipeg.
At recent 2001 meets, Tousek has shown some new skills on bars (a Jaeger, giant 1 ½ to overshoot ½ turn to handstand) and beam (layout step-out mount, ff to two-footed layout, aerial walkover). She also showed a newly choreographed floor routine that included a whip immediate triple twist opening pass and a double pike second line. Tousek had difficulties in the early part of the year in trying to master her updated skills for the new Code of Points, and had hopes of making her first world championship team later in the year. Unfortunately, her inconsistencies in competition prevented the elegant Tousek from being named to the world championship selection roster.
By the time of Elite Canada in Toronto, Tousek had switched gyms and was evidently in a transitional state. Having moved to Saltos only weeks before the competition, Tousek showed some of the strain that inevitably comes any major life change. Her performance was marred by errors, and left the 18 year-old with a disappointing 29th place finish. The year 2002 will possibly be Tousek's last on the Canadian team, with college looming in her future. For now, she will continue her pursuits at the Saltos, with hopes of a strong comeback in the new year.
Update! (Sept. 2003) Chantelle now competes in the NCAA for the University of Florida!
Written by Bryan Milonja
