Individually, Kate solidified her new star status with
a second consecutive 38+ day. Watching her confident performances
here makes a top 12-15 finish in Sydney seem within her grasp (she
came 19th in Tianjin with a fall). Technically, her gymnastics is
of the highest quality, and she executed her exercises with such confidence
that the viewer is not concerned with whether she will stay on, but
rather with how perfect she can be.
Beaulieu obviously had an incredible day as well - another
38-er! The only thing that remains to be seen is whether or not she
will compete AA for Canada in Sydney. While she has suffered from
some well-documented fears of the balance beam in the past, she has
had recent international success on the event, including a silver
at the Pacific Alliance Championships, so we shouldn't count her out.
Fournier came back strongly today with a four-for-four effort, but
it could not overcome her bleak first day to move her beyond 6th in
the combined standings. Tousek, Conway, and Gilmore all look terrific,
but each suffered a beam fall today that kept them from challenging
the top group.
The biggest surprise of the day had to be Aubrey Taylor,
who posted the 7th highest AA total, a full two and a half points
better than yesterday! Since she is only 16, Aubrey's best days likely
lie ahead of her, so look for her to challenge next year with more
secure exercises and increased confidence. Lise had a bit of rough
day, particularly since there were less falls on Day Two, making her
a poor effort on the uneven bars all the more glaring for its errors.
Her role as beam lead-off hitter should be enough to make the team,
however, and her Day One total was strong enough to keep her in 5th
overall.
As a team, the number of beam falls from the Canadian
girls is still quite disconcerting at this late stage of the game
- there were about as many yesterday as today! Bars and floor will
take care of themselves, but again vault was a weakness, with only
two girls showing 9.8-value attempts (Fournier and Pearson). All in
all, however, this team can easily challenge for the top eight in
Sydney, provided they stay relatively healthy.
Here, now, are the combined totals - remember, Day One
is 60% and Day Two is 40%.
1. Richardson 76.220
2. Beaulieu 75.010
3. Tousek 74.290
4. Conway 74.144
5. Leveille 72.860
6. Fournier 72.594
7. Gilmore 71.584
8. Plante 70.850
9. Leclerc 70.510
10. Pearson 69.480
11. Taylor 69.240
So here's where it stands: Richardson and Beaulieu were
named to the team for their 1-2 finish. The next two gymnasts, Tousek
and Conway, were eligible for automatic nomination to the team if
one of their apparatus totals finished higher than Richardson and
Beaulieu's apparatus average. Tousek accomplished this; Conway did
not. Thus, Tousek was automatically nominated to the team. Now, the
selection committee will meet to determine the final three places,
which should be announced tonight, based on the ability for other
athletes to complement the weaknesses of these first three. It really
seems unlikely that it won't be Conway, Leveille, and Fournier, but
the committee wants to be certain. These three have proven themselves
again and again, and were all members of the teams in Winnipeg and
Tianjin last year. Heading into the competition, any of the other
five gymnasts could have made a case for herself to be on the team,
but inconsistent performances likely sealed their fates. At this point,
the biggest question is who will take the alternate position, which
is a critical decision considering the tenuous health of some of many
of the top girls (Tousek, Fournier, Leveille, Beaulieu, and Conway
have all been struggling with injuries this year).
Notes on women's routines
Rotation One: Group Two - UB Group One - bye
The first rotation got off to a great start, with Emilie Fournier,
Yvonne Tousek, Abby Pearson, and Michelle Conway all hitting their
UB routines. Tousek's was especially good, with only a hop forward
on her dismount. She scored a 9.600, the same as Day One. Unfortunately,
Veronique Leclerc suffered an intermediate swing between her Shaposhnikova
and bail 1/2, which dropped her score to a 9.000/9.8 (she had scored
a 9.550/10 on Day One).
Rotation Two: Group Two - BB Group One - UB
In the next rotation, Group Two moved to beam, and Group One began
their day on bars. Julie Beaulieu provided one of the highlights,
with a terrific UB routine punctuated by a stuck double layout. The
Gymnix fans in attendance (a large and vocal proportion of the crowd,
considering the 6 hour drive) cheered all of their gymnasts through
each giant swing, and erupted when Julie nailed her dismount. She
received the highest score of the competition on any event - 9.7/10.
Tousek's beam was proceeding well until her first break of the meet
when she fell on a wolf/wolf ¾ combination. She went on to
stick her 2.5 twist dismount, which was certainly impressive, but
the damage was done (8.75/9.8). Since she and Julie had come into
the day tied for 2nd, the fall meant Yvonne was now out of position
for automatic qualification to the team (only the top 2 would make
the team automatically).
Amelie Plante, who began the day in seventh, and with
a legitimate shot at the alternate position, came back well from her
UB fall the previous day to nail her routine, including a fingertip
catch on her Gienger. The Gymnix clan erupted when she stuck her double
layout, giving her an impromptu standing ovation (9.150/9.8). Pearson
unfortunately suffered a fall on her RO layout beam mount, but successfully
hit her ff layout that she had fallen on on Day One.
The event saw its first major disaster of the day when
Lise Leveille had an intermediate swing and a fall during her UB routine
that had scored a 9.350 on Day One. What was so frustrating is that
she suffered the fall after making the intermediate swing to save
the move. Two moves later she simply could not get her momentum back
and had to jump off, forcing her to swallow an 8.350/9.9. Conway then
followed suit on beam, falling on her punch front, despite a very
solid effort elsewhere in the routine (wisely took out the tour jete
with a half today) (8.825/9.7).
Aubrey Taylor, who had finished 11th on Day One, began her charge
back up the rankings with a hit bar routine, scoring a 9.125/9.8.
Leclerc came back well from her bar fall to hit the beam routine she
had missed on Day One, with only a wobble on the ever-precarious full
turn (9.025/9.9). The crowd let out a big cheer for Crystal Gilmore
when she hit her Tkatchev today! Her double layout was also much improved,
as was her score (9.225/9.9). On beam, Fournier's extraordinarily
high piked front mount drew gasps from the audience (it's really almost
a layout), and she also received a standing ovation from the Gymnix
group when she landed her dismount, scoring an impressive 9.375/9.8.
Richardson began her unofficial title defence with a solid bar routine,
missing only the opportunity to use her toe-on piked shoot to HB (9.575/10).
Rotation Three: Group Two - FX Group One - BB
Plante began the rotation on beam with a fall on her RO layout, but
was solid elsewhere (8.800/9.9). Pearson hit a good FX routine, with
only small landing deductions. Lise hit a pretty good beam routine
(got her mount connection back), with only a few wobbles, taking the
4th highest beam score of the meet (9.475/10). Conway had a great
FX, managing to stay in bounds on this day (9.525/10). Taylor was
a bit shaky on beam, but hit. Leclerc suffered a fall on the same
whip/1.5 twist/punch front that she struggled with yesterday (didn't
even manage the punch front today), which essentially ended her hopes
of capturing the alternate spot for Sydney. Gilmore, fighting Plante
for 7th, had an unusual error on beam, falling to her seat ON the
beam after her punch front mount. She disguised it well, though, and
nailed her ff tucked full to salvage an 8.950/9.9.
Fournier took her double layout out of her routine,
which she had fallen on yesterday, opting for a front to double pike
instead - and a stuck routine (9.300/9.9). Richardson kept motoring
right along through her beam routine, missing only her switch leap
to Yang Bo connection (which she doesn't need for her SV anyway) for
a 9.575/10. Tousek stayed in bounds on FX for a 9.675 - a great improvement
on the 9.200 from Day One. Beaulieu finished the rotation with one
of the best beam routines she's ever done, missing only her Korbut
connection after her tuck jump punch front (9.525/10).
Rotation Four: Group Two - bye Group One - FX
Leveille, still in fifth despite the disaster on bars, showed great
intensity during her floor routine. Unfortunately, a step out on her
2½ twist/punch front cost her slightly (9.100/9.9). Taylor,
Gilmore, Richardson, and Beaulieu went successfully through their
terrific floor routines (all four of them have terrific choreography
that suits their personalities perfectly), with Richardson and Beaulieu
coming up with big scores of 9.650 and 9.700, respectively. Plante
was last up on floor for the competition. With the Quebec fans screaming
her name and cheering her on throughout the entire exercise, she really
put her heart and soul into the routine. Unfortunately, her SV and
the judges let her down, and she scored only 8.975/9.7.
Rotation Five: Group Two - V Group One - bye
Vault was fairly similar to yesterday. Conway hit her Hristakieva's
and Leclerc her front ½'s for 9.125 and 9.212 averages, respectively.
Fournier added a 1½ twisting Yurchenko for her second attempt,
but stumbled back on the landing (9.175 average). Tousek hit her Hristakieva'
better than yesterday, sticking the second for a stingy 9.075 average.
Rotation Six: Group Two - complete Group One - V
Taylor took out her troublesome piked front ½'s, opting for
the increased security of the piked front. Gilmore hit her Hristakieva's
well, with the second effort better than the first (9.012 average).
Richardson showed her super-clean Hristakieva's again for her 9.325
average and the highest AA total of Day Two to match her Day One victory.
Beaulieu was solid on her Hristakieva's for a 9.075, gaining an automatic
berth to the Olympic team in the process. Plante was cheered all the
way down the runway to her stuck piked front landing, but scored only
a 9.000/9.5 for her first attempt. Needing a big vault to pass Gilmore
for 7th, Amelie tried too hard to stick her second attempt, stumbling
backwards until she finally put her hands down behind her. The final
competitor of the day was Leveille, who hit two clean, if unspectacular
piked fronts to secure fifth.
As a final note, it was difficulty not to get a little
choked up when, after naming only three gymnasts to the team, not
the expected four, Michelle Conway had the tact and sportsmanship
to walk by herself to hug and congratulate the three Olympians who
were standing alone on a red carpet. This must have been very difficult
for Michelle, since she must know she is just as deserving of being
on the team as her three teammates, but she had the ability to swallow
her pride and congratulate the other girls, none of whom are from
her home gym. Soon, the other seven girls joined in, and all eleven
joined in a group hug. Afterward, Fournier was in tears - it would
appear to be out of concern for her placement of the team, but it
could also just be relief for finally being done this tough competition.
Final Results
UPDATE: The Canadian Women's Olympic Team has been
selected and will be comprised of: Kate Richardson, Yvonne Tousek,
Julie Beaulieu, Michelle Conway, Lise Leveille and Emilie Fournier.
Crystal Gilmore will be the alternate.
Written by Jennifer Sygo
