Canadian Olympic gymnastics team named ahead of Paris 2024
Veteran Ellie Black leads eleven athletes to Paris 2024.
Eleven gymnasts were named to the Canadian Olympic team for the Paris 2024 Olympics on Friday, ten in artistic gymnastics and one in trampoline.
Athletes qualified for Team Canada based on their performances at the 2024 Canadian Championships, held in early June in Gatineau, Quebec, which were part of the Olympic Selection process.
Canada qualified a full Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) team for Paris 2024 when they won the bronze medal at the 2022 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The Canadian men qualified for the Olympics for the first time since Beijing 2008, thanks to a fourth-place finish in team event qualification at the 2023 worlds.
The women’s team’s qualification marked Team Canada’s first athlete quotas booked for Paris 2024.
The group is led by Ellie Black, who is set to become the first Canadian artistic gymnast to compete at four Olympics. She finished fourth in the balance beam final at Tokyo 2020 for Canada’s best ever Olympic result in any women’s artistic gymnastics event, five years after finishing fifth in the women’s all-around at Rio 2016. She was also part of the women’s team that finished fifth in the team event at London 2012.
She has won ten medals at the Pan American Games throughout her career among other international titles, including three individual golds at Toronto 2015 and two more at Lima 2019 — where she was Canada’s closing ceremony flag bearer.
“I am thrilled to have qualified for the Canadian WAG Paris Olympic Games team,” said Black in a press release. “I feel a lot of pride and gratitude heading into my fourth Olympic Games. That is an incredible accomplishment. I wouldn’t be here without the support of my amazing team around me. I am excited to keep building with these girls and see what our team can do in Paris!”
Joining Black on the women’s team are Shallon Olsen, Cassie Lee, Ava Stewart, and Aurélie Tran.
Olsen is heading to her third Olympics, shortly after she turns 24 on July 10. She specializes in the vault, qualifying for the final at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. She has also won vault silver at the 2018 World Championships, bronze at the Lima 2019 Pan Am Games, and the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Stewart, Lee and Tran were all members of Team Canada’s bronze medal-winning group at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. Stewart also competed at Tokyo 2020.
Four of the five Canadian men will be making their Olympic debuts in artistic gymnastics, with René Cournoyer previously competing in Tokyo as Canada’s only male gymnast at those Games.
He will be joined by Zachary Clay, Félix Dolci, William Émard, and Samuel Zakutney in Paris. Clay, Cournoyer, Dolci and Émard were part of the group who earned the Olympic qualification at the 2023 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, but Zakutney missed out through injury. The team used “Do it for Sam” as motivation throughout the event, and booked their ticket to Paris.
Canada won a silver medal in the men’s team event at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, where Dolci was one of the stars of the entire gymnastics competition. In addition to the team silver, the 22-year-old won gold in the men’s all-around — Canada’s first men’s all-around champion at the Pan Am Games in 60 years — in addition to a gold in the floor exercise, and bronzes in the vault and rings events. Elsewhere individually at Santiago 2023, Clay also won gold in pommel horse and Cournoyer took bronze on the horizontal bar.
Dolci has also won silver medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (team) and 2018 Youth Olympic Games (rings), as well as a gold in rings and silver in floor exercise at the 2019 Junior World Championships.
“I am incredibly honored and excited to join the Paris 2024 team,” said Dolci in a press release. “Being named to this team is a dream come true, and I look forward to contributing my skills and passion to achieve our shared goals.”
Sophiane Méthot will compete in women’s trampoline, Canada’s lone competitor in that event at Paris 2024. She is the 2024 Canadian champion in the event, and also won a bronze medal at the 2017 FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships.
Paris 2024 will be her debut at a major multi-sport Games with Team Canada.
“I am so excited and honored to be representing Canada at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, said Méthot in a press release. “I look forward to sharing these Games with my family and friends who will be cheering me on from Paris!”
Canada has won won seven Olympic medals in trampoline, and one in artistic gymnastics. Rosie MacLennan’s back-to-back trampoline golds at London 2012 and Rio 2016 headline that group, along with Kyle Shewfelt’s gold medal in men’s floor exercise from Athens 2004.
Artistic gymnastics will take place from July 27 to August 5, and trampoline gymnastics will be held on August 2, both at Bercy Arena.
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