Team Canada won a surprise bronze medal on Tuesday in women’s team gymnastics at the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, Great Britain. The Canadian team comprised of Ellie Black of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Laurie Denommee of Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Denelle Pedrick of Brandon, Manitoba, Emma Spence of Cambridge, Ontario, and Sydney Turner of New Westminster, British Columbia.
Canada posted a score of 160.563 points. The United States won the gold medal with 166.564 points and Great Britain won the silver medal with a score of 163.363 points. Canada reached the podium by .902 points over Brazil, who had a fourth place score of 159.661 points.
The reason why this bronze medal was a bit of a surprise is because Canada only posted the eighth best score in qualifying. They were also without World Championship silver medalist Shallon Olsen of Vancouver, British Columbia, who did not compete in Liverpool because of the recent death of her mother. Olsen won the silver medal in the women’s vault at the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Black, who was the oldest gymnast in the event at 27 years old, posted the top Canadian score in all four disciplines. She had a score of 14.2 on the vault, 14.033 on the uneven bars, 13.833 on the balance beam, and 13.1 on the floor. Turner also had a score of 13.1 on the floor.
This was the first time ever that Canada won a medal in the women’s team event at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Black has already qualified for the individual all-around final, balance beam final and vault final.
