Bezzoubenko, of Toronto, ON, who ranked 24th All Around (AA) at last year’s World Championships will be looking to better her AA ranking, while Whelan of Aurora, ON and Uchida, also from Toronto, will be competing at their first World Championships.
For the individual athletes, Worlds marks the first of two qualifying chances, the second being the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro in April 2016. The top 15 gymnasts from the All-Around Final will earn their country a spot at the Olympics, while the next 22 will advance to the Rio Test Event. A country can qualify a maximum of two gymnasts in the individual competition. In a similar manner, the top 8 groups in the All-Around competition will directly qualify, while the 6 next best ranked will have a second chance to earn a berth at the Test Event.
“Our focus in training with all of the athletes has been on fine-turning their routines and maintaining consistency and confidence throughout,” said National Team Director, Teresa Orr. “All of the athletes have been working very hard and are looking forward to the competition!”
What: 34th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships. First 2016 Olympic Games qualifying event
When: September 7 – 13, 2015
Where: Stuttgart, Germany
Individual Athletes: Patricia Bezzoubenko, Carmen Whelan, Katherine Uchida
Group Athletes: Katrina Cameron, Maya Kojevnikov, Lucinda Nowell, Vanessa, Panov, Anjelika Reznik, Victoria Reznik
Athlete bios: http://gymcan.org/disciplines/rhythmic/national-teams
Results: http://www.fig-gymnastics.com/site/page/view?id=817
Live Stream: http://livetv.sx/en/competitions/571/