“Today’s competition surpassed our expectations,” said Smith who doesn’t often compete with Tam in synchro. “It was a little bit disappointing at the end to finish just off the podium, but we’re really happy with our routine. It’s always great to get some successful competitions under our belt so it was really nice to finish all of our routines today and we’re looking forward to building off that and making this our consistent performance.”
Smith and Tam finished the day with a total score of 47.020 – just .15 points behind the team from New Zealand who took bronze with a score of 47.170. Belarus took gold with a score of 48.170 while Japan took silver with 47.640.
No other Canadian athletes advanced to finals at this competition. Two-time Olympic champion, and current World Champion – Rosie MacLennan of Toronto, was sitting in fourth after her compulsory routine but unfortunately fell during her optional routine and finished 52nd overall.
“This wasn’t my competition,” said MacLennan who finished second at the last World Cup in Baku, AZE. “I had a strong first routine but struggled in my second routine. While I’m disappointed with the result, I’m focused on doing better at the next World Cup.”
Sarah Milette of Longueuil, QC had the top individual finish for the women placing 21st overall. Smith placed 28th, while Tam also didn’t complete her second routine and finished 60th. Xueying Zhu and Qianqi Lin of China took gold and silver respectively while Yana Pavlova of Russia captured bronze.
Competing in just the second World Cup of his career, Chartier, the youngest member of team Canada at the competition, finished a very strong 15th overall in a field of 90 athletes.
“I was stressed and a bit anxious about my two routines but they went really well, and I did a personal high score, and placed 15th which is higher than I was expecting. For the next competition, I really want to work on my travelling on the trampoline – trying to stay on that ‘x’ on the trampoline.”
“Jeremy had a great performance that will help Canada’s efforts to secure an Olympic spot for the men,” said Karen Cockburn, National Team Director for Trampoline Gymnastics at Gymnastics Canada. “He handled the nerves of being in the last group of the day and competing in a large stadium really well. 15th is a great result for him. He’s the youngest member of our team and is improving at every competition. He continues to build on each success as we move through this important Olympic selection year.”
Also competing in men’s individual trampoline were Keegan Soehn of Red Deer, AB who finished 50th overall, and Jake Cranham of Whitby, ON who finished 59th. Andrey Yudin of Russia took the gold, Xiao Tu of China the silver, and 2016 Olympic Champion Uladzislau Hancharou of Belarus the bronze.
The next World Cup competition for trampoline will take place in September. The 2019-2020 World Cups are an opportunity for the highest-ranked participants in this six-stage series to earn a place for their country at the 2020 Olympic Games. Domestically, the top athletes in trampoline, tumbling, and double mini-trampoline will compete at the Elite Canada competition in trampoline gymnastics that takes place in Calgary, AB from May 3-5, 2019.
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First established in 1969, Gymnastics Canada has been supporting the mastery of movement in Canada for five decades as the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in Canada. We work closely with the twelve provincial federations and 700 local clubs to provide a broad range of programs and services to meet the needs of all participants. From athlete development, to coach and judge education, Gymnastics Canada sets the operating standards and practices for the sport in Canada. Our mandate is to promote and provide positive and diverse gymnastics experiences through the delivery of quality and safe gymnastics programming. Visitwww.gymcan.org for more information, or follow us @gymcan1. From here, we soar.
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