For an interview with Julie Beaulieu, click here!
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Julie charming her captive
audience at Olympic Trials |
As a member of Canada's senior national team for three
seasons (1998-2000), Julie Beaulieu made an
international reputation for herself as a gymnast with
a rare blend of difficulty, execution, style, and
personality. A product of the famous Gymnix club in
Montreal, Quebec, Beaulieu made the leap from relative
obscurity on the Canadian national scene to world
player, and along the way became a testament to the
power of will and determination to overcome even the
most daunting odds.
Despite obvious natural talents, Beaulieu's final
years as a junior gymnast were plagued by one of the
most common, but devastating, emotions experienced by
gymnasts of all levels: fear. As the demands for
increasingly difficult skills and combinations became
more intense, Beaulieu became fearful of her exercises
on the balance beam. Despite all attempts by her
coaches and herself, Beaulieu's trepidation became so
engrossing that she actually stopped training balance
beam for a period lasting almost six months. This
loss of training time obviously hampered her
transition to the senior ranks, and it even caused
Beaulieu to sit out the event in the 1997 Junior
Pacific Alliance Championships, forcing the Canadian
team into the unenviable position of having to compete
an athlete short for one rotation. It might have
seemed that Beaulieu's potential as a top
international gymnast was going to be compromised by
her fear of the balance beam.
Fortunately, Beaulieu's story is a happy one, and
through great determination and courage she was able
to conquer the balance beam and managed to develop a
routine that was secure enough to place her 7th
overall in her first senior national championships in
1998. She returned to national competition later that
year, placing third at Elite Canada in December, and
in the process beat all four athletes who had
comprised the prestigious Commonwealth Games team
earlier that summer.
Of her four exercises, Beaulieu's uneven bar routine
was undoubtedly her best, for she managed to strike a
fine balance between clean lines and remarkable
difficulty. Included in her routine was a rare
Markelov release (undergrip to half turn, straddle
over the high bar) and a gorgeous double layout
dismount that was technically sound that Beaulieu was
known to occasionally throw a full-twist without
having to sacrifice height or form.
After ending 1998 on such a high note, it would have
been understandable if Beaulieu had come out flat to
begin the 1999 season. In fact, it was the opposite
that happened, and she had arguably the most
successful year of any woman on the national team.
Her competitive season began with the Gymnix
International, the popular event hosted by her home
club each spring. Beaulieu proved to the Canadian
gymnastics community that her star was indeed on the
rise when she won the all-around title, defeating a
host of strong international athletes, including the
Ukraine's Olga Roschupkina and Russia's Anastasia
Kolesnikova, as well as her Canadian teammates.
Beaulieu took her momentum into the national
championships in Burnaby, British Columbia, and
surprised her more experienced teammates, including
defending champion, Katie Rowland, and 1996 Olympian,
Yvonne Tousek, by taking the overall title.
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pride and relief
of making the 2000 Olympic Team |
With that sort of momentum, it surprised no one when
Beaulieu was selected to the 1999 world championship
team, where Canada's best female gymnasts succeeded in
qualifying a full squad to the 2000 Olympic Games by
placing 10th as a team. While an ankle injury
prevented Beaulieu from competing all events, she did
all she could for the team, counting both of her
scores towards the final total.
If 1999 had established Beaulieu as a new face on the
Canadian front, it was in the year 2000 that she
became one of the cornerstones of the national
program. Her season began with another smash success
when she was again victorious at the Gymnix
International, this time over a host of past and
future Olympians. Beaulieu carried her momentum
forward into two major internationals, both on the
same side of the world as the fast-approaching Olympic
Games. Unfortunately, a wrist injury prevented her
from actually competing in the Qantas International,
the Olympic test event held in the Sydney's SuperDome.
Beaulieu recovered enough to take the competition
floor at the hotly-contested Pacific Alliance
Championships in New Zealand later that spring.
Though the Canadian team finished poorly due to a rash
of injuries and inconsistencies, Beaulieu shone with a
7th place all-around finish, and a silver medal on the
balance beam. The latter was sweet confirmation of
her rebirth on the apparatus, and helped solidify her
position as an all-around contributor for the team in
Sydney.
The 2000 Olympic Trials were the culmination of
Beaulieu's career, and she certainly rose to the
occasion. With only a beam fall marring her two-day
performance, Beaulieu earned automatic selection to
the team by finishing second overall (only the top two
gymnasts earned automatic selection). Her consistent
performances over the years also convinced the
Canadian coaches to compete Beaulieu as one of
Canada's all-arounders in Sydney. Unfortunately,
uncharacteristic errors in her well-choreographed
floor routine (two falls) prevented Beaulieu from
joining teammates Kate Richardson and Yvonne Tousek
among the top 36 individually, despite puting forth
some of her best routines ever on vault (Hristakieva),
the uneven bars, and, of course, the balance beam (ff
layout ff, punch front, gainer double twist dismount).
Known for her vivacious personality, Beaulieu has
elected to commit her talent and energy to endeavours
outside of the world of gymnastics now that her
Olympic dream has been fulfilled. Specifically, her
interests have turned to diving, where she is
achieving remarkable success after only a few months
of training. With her solid gymnastic background,
hearty work ethic, and competitive composure from
years of international experience, Julie Beaulieu is
now a talent looming on the horizon of a second sport,
which is certainly a thrill for her many fans who hope
to hear more from this popular young woman in the
years to come.
