Archive: April - July 2008
Back to the News Archive IndexJULY 7 - CANADA FINALIZES MEN'S TEAM FOR BEIJING
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Canada's men's gymnastics team for Beijing was named tonight. Leading the team is 2004 Olympic gold medalist Kyle Shewfelt, who has made a tremendous recovery following a devastating injury (two broken legs) last September. Joining Shewfelt are three veterans from the 2004 Olympic team, Adam Wong, David Kikuchi, and Grant Golding. Enjoying their first Olympics will be Brandon O'Neill (2005-2007 World team member) and Nathan Gafuik (2006, 2007 World team member). Ken Ikeda and Jared Walls are the first and second alternates, respectively.
Canada's men's and women's gymnastics team depart July 26 for Beijing, China. Good luck, team Canada!
JULY 7 - CANADA FINALIZES MEN'S TEAM FOR BEIJING
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Canada's men's gymnastics team for Beijing was named tonight. Leading the team is 2004 Olympic gold medalist Kyle Shewfelt, who has made a tremendous recovery following a devastating injury (two broken legs) last September. Joining Shewfelt are three veterans from the 2004 Olympic team, Adam Wong, David Kikuchi, and Grant Golding. Enjoying their first Olympics will be Brandon O'Neill (2005-2007 World team member) and Nathan Gafuik (2006, 2007 World team member). Ken Ikeda and Jared Walls are the first and second alternates, respectively.
Canada's men's and women's gymnastics team depart July 26 for Beijing, China. Good luck, team Canada!
JUNE 27 - VACULIK OUT WITH INJURED ELBOW; BROWN NAMED FIRST ALTERNATE
Kristina Vaculik of Gemini gymnastics is reportedly suffering from an elbow injury that will require several weeks to heal. As a result, Alyssa Brown has been named the first reserve (alternate) for the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
JUNE 8 - VACULIK AND GAFUIK TAKE TWO GOLDS EACH AS NATIONALS CONCLUDE
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Kristina Vaculik of Gemini gymnastics was the most dominant gymnast at the Canadian Championships in Calgary this week, taking two golds and two silvers in the apparatus finals. Vaculik tied for first place on vault with Olympic bound Nansy Damianova, won gold on the uneven bars (with a strong 15.6 score - one of the highest scores ever for a Canadian gymnast in the new open ended scoring system), finished second on the balance beam to junior aged phenom Peng Peng Lee (scoring an Olympic event finals worthy 15.5 in the process) and also finished second to Lee on floor exercise, with a strong 14.80 score. Shockingly, despite her impressive results this week (which included a second place finish in the women's all-around final, after winning the preliminary competition with a 58.95 - one of the highest all-around scores for a Canadian gymnast in the new scoring system), Vaculik was not named as one of the two Olympic representatives.
In the men's event finals, Nathan Gafuik of Calgary won two events - floor exercise and vault, while four others were victorious on the other events. Ken Ikeda of Abbotsford Twisters took first place on pommel horse, David Kikuchi of ALTA won rings, Brandon O'Neill of Edmonton won parallel bars, and all-around champion Adam Wong of Calgary took first on high bar. The men's results show the tremendous depth of team Canada on the men's side, showing that the Olympic selection will be very competitive and hopefully more fair than the women's selection.
Complete results can be downloaded from the 2008 Canadian Championships website.
JUNE 7 - DAMIANOVA AND HOPFNER-HIBBS NAMED TO THE OLYMPIC TEAM
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Following the conclusion of the Canadian championships in Calgary today, Gymnastics Canada named Nansy Damianova and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs as Canada's two Olympic representatives. This decision comes at the conclusion of a controversial selection process where points were earned based on scores achieved in various competitions this season. Damianova's coach was also named as the one coach who will be accredited for the games.
JUNE 6 – WONG AND HOPFNER-HIBBS RECLAIM NATIONAL TITLES
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Adam Wong of Calgary and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs of Toronto reclaimed their Canadian all-around titles at the national championships in Calgary last night. Wong, who had won the event in 2005 and 2006 before suffering from a torn Achilles tendon last year, took first place in the men’s event ahead of defending champion David Kikuchi of Fall River, Nova Scotia, and Casey Sandy of Burlington. Another former Canadian all-around champion, Grant Golding, finished fourth, a testament to the depth in the men’s program.
Hopfner-Hibbs, the 2006 Canadian all-around champion who had missed last year’s nationals due to injury, took first place over defending champion and preliminary leader Kristina Vaculik of Whitby. Third place went to Toronto’s Peng Peng Lee, a junior aged gymnast competing in her first senior championship.
Click to download full results (PDF documents in a zip folder).
A junior women’s champion was also crowned last night, with Sarnia’s Dominique Pegg taking the title in what was a very close competition with Calgary’s Anysia Unick, 55.70 to 55.65. Pegg and Unick tied for the highest scores on the first two events, vault and uneven bars. Taking third was Ti Liu of Montreal.
The junior men’s champion will be decided Friday. Leading after the first day is Jackson Payne of Calgary Gymnastics, followed by Kevin Lytwyn of Burlington B.G’s and Francis Croft of IMCO (Quebec).
MAY 12 – WILLIS LEADS CANADIAN TEAM IN TEXAS
Emma Willis of Bluewater Gymnastics club was the top Canadian all-around gymnast at this week’s friendly international competition in Houston, Texas. Willis scored 55.95 after hitting all for events to rank 8th in a field of gymnasts representing the United States, Canada, Germany, Columbia, Italy, and Venezuela. Also competing in the all-around for Canada were Sydney Sawa (10th) and Catherine Dion (13th). Aisha Gerber competed two events only (vault and floor) while Alyssa Brown competed all events but floor. Competition was to conclude today with apparatus finals, with each Canadian planning to compete on two events. This friendly competition was held at the conclusion of a week long training camp.
A link to results will be posted once available.
APRIL 27 - VACULIK TAKES GOLD ON BEAM
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Day 2 brings more breakthrough performances for Canada in Maribor, Slovenia! Canada's Kristina Vaculik took gold on beam at the Salamunov Memorial, outscoring Wevers (NED) and Sanchez (COL). Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs placed fourth, falling off the beam on her cartwheel. On the floor exercise, Nansy Damianova (CAN) claimed bronze behind Harmes (NED) and Zimmerman (SWI). Emma Willis (CAN) finished 7th. In the men's field, Grant Golding placed seventh on the parallel bars.
APRIL 26 - CANADIANS WIN BIG DAY 1 AT SALAMUNOV INCLUDING GOLD ON BARS FROM HOPFNER-HIBBS
Medals for all three Canadian women at the Salamunov Memorial in Slovenia!
Day 1 finals was a huge success for Canada's women; Nansy Damianova brought home Canada's first medal of the day, a bronze on bars. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs reigned supreme on bars for gold, just edging out teammate Kristina Vaculik (silver). Marta Pihan of Poland rounded out the bars.
In the men's field, Grant Golding was expected to contest on floor, but was bumped to ninth (out of finals) after another gymnast's preliminary score was adjusted. He's due to compete in the parallel bars Sunday.
APRIL 19 - SANDY WINS NCAAS
Penn State University's Casey Sandy of Brampton, Ontario claimed the all-around title at tonight's 2008 NCAA Championships. "I thought it was a good day today," Sandy told Penn State. "I was capable of being cleaner in my routines, but I am pretty happy how it ended up." Sandy also finished third on pommels, tied for fifth on vault, placed sixth on floor and rings, 9th in p-bars, and 12th on the high bar.
In team competition, PSU fell short in their defense of their 2007 title, finishing fourth. The competition was won by Oklahoma, with Stanford and Illinois finishing second and third, respectively.
Sandy was a member of Canada's 2007 World Championships team, and one of two who competed for Canada in the all-around. He will vie for a spot on Canada's upcoming Olympic team for Beijing.
APRIL 13 - GAFUIK PLACES FIFTH ON VAULT AT COTTBUS CUP
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Canada's Nathan Gafuik was a surprise entrant in today's vault final at the Cottbus Cup. Lesnek Blanik (POL), first after the preliminary round, pulled out with injury, making way for Gafuik to compete. He finished fifth.
APRIL 12 - GAFUIK WINS BRONZE AT COTTBUS CUP
Canada's Nathan Gafuik took bronze on floor at today's Cottbus Cup (15.075), continuing a strong tradition of Canadian men's results in the floor exercise. The home country's Fabian Hambuechen took gold (15.300) with Ukraine's Bogonosiuk placing second (15.200).
Canadians Aisha Gerber and Alyssa Brown competed in today's event finals at the Cottbus Cup in Germany. Gerber placed 6th on vault and Brown finished a close 7th.
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