Competing in the first of two subdivisions, the team laid down solid routines on all six apparatus, and particular on pommel horse – an apparatus they have struggled on as of late, to end the subdivision in second position with a total score of 246.725; just trailing the team from Brazil who scored 250.450.
In the second subdivision, the Team from the USA managed to better their score with a 249.400 to move Canada down into bronze medal position, which is still an improvement on their fourth place finish from the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, and is their first team medal since the 1999 Pan Am Games.
Paterson, who was a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and who has qualified for the all-around finals on Monday, cited the team’s performance on pommel horse as his highlight of the competition: “Pommel horse went great. I went up first and hit my routine and the momentum just kept going. Justin went after and had a strong routine, and then Zach had the routine of his life, he was incredible, and then Rene finished it off. It was just an incredible feeling – that’s exactly what we needed to do and what we came here to do.”
Clay’s routine on pommels was good enough to qualify him in top spot for the apparatus finals, which he’ll compete in along with Karstadt, on Tuesday: “This is definitely a good run for the next Worlds, because pommel horse is one of those events where it’s just a hit or miss, so I think all of us hitting our pommel horse as well as we did, it’s definitely a confidence booster heading in to the next worlds.”
Cournoyer was the top all-around qualifier for Canada, finishing ranked third. He has also qualified for the rings and horizontal bar apparatus finals: “I had a great meet. Everything went according to our training. There were some little mistakes here and there, but nothing major, and the team was here to back me up, so overall I had a great time.”
Every team member has qualified for at least one final as Zakutney will battle for the medals on the horizontal bar, while Karstadt will also compete on the parallel bars..
The women’s all-around finals featuring Ellie Black, the reigning Pan American champion, and Victoria Woo start at 14:00ET on Monday, with the men’s finals starting at 19:00ET featuring Cournoyer and Paterson.
Tuesday will feature apparatus finals in men’s floor, pommel horse, and rings, and women’s vault and uneven bars, while Wednesday will see the artistic gymnastics competition wrap-up with apparatus finals in men’s vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bar, and women’s beam and floor.
For full results, please visit: https://www.lima2019.pe/en/results
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