The top ten teams at this year’s world championships qualified directly for the Games with the next seven highest ranked countries advancing to the final Olympic qualifier set for Rio de Janeiro in April.
Russia topped a field of 24 teams in the all-around with a score 36.266 points, followed by Bulgaria with 35.583 and Spain at 34.900.
The Canadian team, led by 2012 Olympic team members Katrina Cameron of Mississauga, Ont., and Anjelika Reznik of Vaughan, Ont., finished with a combined score 30.283 points for two routines — one performed with five ribbons and the other with three clubs and two hoops.
Other members of the team are Maya Kojevnikov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Lucinda Nowell of Toronto, Vanessa, Panov of Toronto, and Victoria Reznik of Vaughan, Ont.
“They were happy with their performance but they weren’t happy not to qualify,” said Canadian national team director Teresa Orr of Toronto.
“We knew going in that it was going to be difficult to qualify. They’ve worked hard and improved a lot and they did what they could do here.”
Canada earned a spot in the rhythmic group event at the last Olympics as the top-ranked country in the Americas and went on to place 11th in a field of 12 countries.
The 2016 Olympics in Rio will feature 14 teams in the group competition.