While the American Cup was undoubtedly the big highlight of the weekend, Full Twist contributor Anna Rose Johnson was keeping an eye on the International Gymnix is a prestigious annual competition held in Canada that often showcases some of the world’s most promising stars. This year’s meet was no exception! It was split into several different competitions: the Junior Cup team event, the Junior Cup all-around and event finals, and the Challenge all-around and event finals for senior gymnasts.
The Junior Cup all-around champion was Canada’s Rose-Kaying Woo, whose strong athletics enabled her to take home the gold medal with a total of 56.100 (she scored 14.850 for her double-twisting yurchenko). In the event finals, Rose won balance beam with a 14.300 and added another gold on floor with a 14.125.
The second place all-around finisher was Russia’s Natalia Kapitonova, who scored 55.400. She won the uneven bars title with a 14.400 (6.2 SV); her elegance and beautiful lines really made her stand out. Additionally, she won the vault bronze medal (13.787 average) and presented crisp tumbling to finish fourth on floor exercise. Stay tuned for an interview with Natalia in an upcoming Full Twist Training Update.
Rounding out the junior all-around medalists was Jade Chrobok of Canada, who scored 54.100. Her precise uneven bars routine also garnered her a bronze in the apparatus finals.
Canada really excelled in the junior event finals. Shallon Olsen and Megan Roberts went 1-2 on vault, and both gymnasts competed DTYs. Shallon’s second vault was an amazing half-on, 1 ½-twisting vault in the tucked position (the equivalent of a Cheng, only tucked). Its start value was 5.9.
Other apparatus medals for Canada came when Ana Padurariu snagged the silver on balance beam and Megan Roberts won the floor exercise silver. Russia claimed the silver on bars with Anastasia Ilyankova’s high-flying work and also won the floor exercise bronze with Angelina Simakova. Italy’s Sara Berardinelli won the beam bronze with a routine that included two back handsprings to a layout step-out.
The Junior Cup team competition saw Canada winning a decisive gold over Russia by a margin of almost four points. Italy was third with a 159.350.
The seniors also enjoyed an exciting competition. Canadians largely dominated the meet, as there were only a few guest competitors from other countries. Victoria-Kayen Woo won the all-around with a 54.625, highlighted by a 14.250 on vault. She also came away with the bronze on bars (double layout dismount), and the bronze on floor (13.100).
Isabela Onyshko was second in the all-around close behind Victoria. She also won the silver medal on bars with an exciting routine and won balance beam with a 14.375 (6.1 SV).
The senior all-around bronze was captured by Sydney Soloski, who also won floor exercise with a 13.550. Her style on floor exercise is reminiscent of fellow Canadian Ellie Black (Sydney’s mount is an enormous double layout).
Hélody Cyrenne won the vault gold with an average of 13.800 (lovely full-twisting yurchenko), while Sonita Zlobec won the silver. Sabrina Gill performed beautifully on uneven bars en route to the title (14.275).
The dynamic Gabriella Douglas won the senior beam gold with a routine that included an illusion turn and boasted a huge 8.7 E-score. Madison Copiak won the beam bronze with a 13.950 (double pike dismount), while Meaghan Ruttan rounded out the senior medals with a silver on floor exercise (13.200).
Videos of the competition can be found on the . The official website can be viewed here.
