Next generation of Canadian gymnasts competes at nationals
Apparatus finals take place Saturday in Hamilton
Last Updated: Friday, June 5, 2009 | 3:57 PM ET
CBC Sports
Charlotte Mackie is one to watch for on the floor, balance beam and vault events at the national championships on Saturday. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)Canadian Olympic gold medallist Kyle Shewfelt is expecting a packed gym to take in the action Saturday in Hamilton, Ont., when the best gymnasts in the country compete for national titles.
The Canadian Gymnastic Championships apparatus finals will feature the top eight gymnasts in each event on the men's and women's sides (2-3:30 p.m. ET, CBC-TV, CBCSports.ca).
Qualification rounds for the six men's events (floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar) and the four women's events (vault, uneven bars, beam and floor) wrapped up on Thursday.
"Now the top eight have earned their position in the final, and it starts at zero, and it's anybody's game," Shewfelt said. "We have the eight best going in each event."
This, of course, won't include Shewfelt, who last month announced his retirement from gymnastics.
The Calgary native will be part of the action, however, as he's joining CBC's broadcast team on Saturday, along with fellow retired gymnast and Olympian, Lori Strong Ballard.
Sawa and Sandy win all-arounds
Thursday saw Calgary's Sidney Sawa and Casey Sandy of Brampton, Ont., win their first all-around titles on the women's and men's sides respectively.
Strong Ballard says Sawa is one to watch on the women's side.
"She is the new national all-around champion. She had a little bit of a rough meet, but she pulled it off. She was relieved, she was excited, she was happy that she had a better day.
"Definitely looking for her to do some good things. She has three more shots at a medal."
One gymnast who will challenge her is Coquitlam, B.C.'s Charlotte Mackie, younger sister of 2004 Canadian Olympic gymnast and former national champion Gael Mackie.
"She's a beautiful gymnast, and she's going to be a very strong force on three events — floor, balance beam and vault," Shewfelt said.
The surprise of the nationals so far, if you ask Strong Ballard, is Montreal's Cynthia Lemieux-Guillemet, who finished second in the all-around.
"She's not someone that everyone predicted to be so successful. Right now she does lack the difficulty that may be needed to give her a good shot at a world or Olympic team in the future, but right now she's probably one of the most consistent gymnasts out there."
Dominique Pegg of Sarnia, Ont., is also strong on the women's side, though she's recovering from an elbow injury.
O'Neill back from injury
In the men's competition in Shewfelt's strongest event — the floor exercise, where he captured gold at the 2004 Olympic Games — one gymnast everyone will be watching is Edmonton's Brandon O'Neill, who will also be a force in the vault and high bar.
O'Neill spent the last eight months rehabbing an ankle injury suffered before the start of the Beijing Games last August, but is back at about 70 per cent, Strong Ballard says.
"He is also a world medallist and world cup finalist medallist, so he's got a lot of accolades behind him. Everyone's kind of looking to see where he is."
Also challenging for the podium will be 2008 Olympians Nathan Gafuik and Adam Wong. Gafuik was the top qualifier on the vault and high bar.
"He's sort of the guy to beat on those two events right now," Strong Ballard said.
Sandy, named the top college gymnast in the U.S. in 2009, will be a strong contender, as will Abbotsford, B.C.'s Ken Ikeda, who was second overall in the men's all-around and an alternate for the 2008 Olympic team.
"They retired about half of the men's Olympic team, but it looks like they've got some pretty good talent coming in below to fill in those spots," Strong Ballard said. "Maybe not quite a Kyle Shewfelt in the making, but in terms of a strong team, it seems like they're on the right page."
