Canadian gymnasts make history
Team claims record result against odds
Everyone got a hug on their way down the stairs, to the seats, where they were hugged again. And when everyone was hugged, the Canadian women’s gymnastics team posed for photographs, smiling, after making history.
Canada has never won a medal in the artistic team final, and that did not change Tuesday in London, but that does not mean nothing changed. The Canadians finished fifth out of eight teams, giving the country its best-ever result in an Olympic team event.
The United States won gold with a score of 183.596, leaving their rival Russians with the silver (178.530) and Romania with bronze (176.414). Other than the Americans, who are already accorded celebrity status in the sport, and are thus expected to deliver under any circumstances, there might not have been a happier team than the Canadians.
“It honestly is amazing,” national team director Kyna Fletcher said. “You’re in the big leagues, and when you’re dealing with the top four, where they are now, you know you’re in reach. It’s fabulous.”
Canada, she said, funded its Olympic preparations — as well as its junior program — on a shoestring budget of about $285,000. Fletcher estimated the Americans worked with a budget of more than $2 million.
“It’s a sport that is not heavily funded,” she said, the buzz still audible from the stands above, in the North Greenwich Arena in London.
The Canadians did not even qualify four years ago in Beijing, and had made sixth place a stated goal after their surprising qualification for the final in London. This was the first time a Canadian team had qualified for a team final in a non-boycott year.
Canada, with a team comprised of four teenagers and a 20-year-old, was able to compete with a unique freedom. It was a freedom from expectation, having already exceeded its expectations on Sunday.
As the friends and family of Canadian Dominique Pegg repeated outside the venue before the competition began, the team was already in celebration mode. No Canadian had done what they were about to do, and with the world’s attention on the established monarchies of the sport — the United States, Russia and Romania among them — they could go about their work away from the spotlight.
“We thought, coming in, that we could be sixth,” Canadian coach dave brubaker said. “we were going to be happy with eighth or seventh. And fifth is just icing on the cake.”
Canadian coaches, officials and athletes were beaming in the dark corner of the mixed zone, where competitors meet reporters after their event. As the team posed for another round of photos, Brubaker tried to put a finer point on their accomplishment.
“I think it actually feels, for us, like being first in the world,” he said. “Because we are really up against a lot. We’re a low-budget sport in Canada. We put a lot of effort in from the clubs. There’s a huge culmination of effort from a lot of very gifted coaches that produce this result — it’s not just the people you see on the floor.”
And the Canadians are still not finished with the floor in London. Pegg has qualified for the individual all-around final on Thursday, while Ellie Black and Brittany Rogers will compete in the vault final.
On Tuesday, tension filled the arena as the final scores were tabulated. The arena erupted when it was announced the United States had won. In their corner of the arena, far from the spotlight, the Canadians were also celebrating.
“We were watching that scoreboard,” Pegg said, eyes welling. “And when it happened, we just couldn’t believe it.”