Gymnastics Canada  – CALGARY, AB (May 6, 2017) – It was a gold medal performance by Sarah Milette at the Canada Cup Trampoline Gymnastics competition in Calgary, Alberta Saturday. Sophiane Méthot also stood on the podium winning a silver medal and Kyle Soehn won a bronze to complete Team Canada’s set of medals.

Milette from Longueuil, QC entered the senior trampoline final just over .100 points back of teammate and synchro trampoline partner Méthot of La Prairie, QC following the preliminary round. In the final, Milette rose to the occasion and delivered a fantastic routine to land her 156.975 points and narrowly put her ahead of Méthot’s final score of 156.495 to win the gold medal. Méthot’s score put her in second place overall and she joined Milette on the podium to celebrate her silver medal performance.

Following the finals, Milette was thrilled with the results; “I’m feeling really happy because I had such a good final routine,” she said. “Sophiane and I were both really close after the preliminary competition and she also had a really good routine in the finals, so I’m happy to come out on top.” As competition and training partners, Milette and Méthot are constantly challenging each other to improve and the results are noticeable; “Training together really pushes us both because we can never relax and we have to work harder to succeed,” Milette explained following competition. “I know that if I don’t feel like training, she is always there to push me and I don’t have a choice but to improve.”

Hanna Harchonak of Belarus finished behind Milette and Méthot to win the bronze medal. Gymnastics Canada High Performance Director of Trampoline Gymnastics Stephan Duchesne was quite pleased with the women’s results; “The performance we had from Sarah and Sophiane today to beat Hanna from Belarus is pretty amazing. Hanna is a world class athlete and consistently ranks within the top eight in the world,” Duchesne said. “For the first time in international competition, Hanna increased her level of difficulty for the final today and our women were still able to finish out in front. With performances like this weekend, it’s going to be a big fight for our Canadian women to win spots for the World Championships.”

In the senior men’s trampoline final, Red Deer, AB native Kyle Soehn maintained his position following the qualification round and finished in third place overall to take home the bronze medal with a score of 162.750. Soehn laid down a solid routine, but was not able to overtake the Belarusians who won the gold and silver medals. Reigning Olympic champion Uladzislau Hancharou of Belarus scored 169.655 points in the final to remain on top of the competition.

With a bronze medal around his neck, Soehn was delighted with his final routine; “I’m feeling really good and relieved to have a good performance at the Canada Cup,” Soehn said. “This is our first National Team trial so we had a strategy of going in with a routine that was a little bit easier to score a bit higher and guarantee my placement on the team so I’m happy that strategy paid off in the end.”

Soehn will have one more chance at the Canada Cup to win another medal, as he will team up with his brother Keegan on Sunday in the men’s synchro trampoline final. Milette and Méthot will also compete in the women’s synchro trampoline finals; both teams are currently ranked in second place.

In women’s tumbling action, Jordan Sugrim of Mississauga, ON sits in first place in the senior competition with a score of 66.100 point, more than five points ahead of her second place competitor from the United States. Sugrim will look to stand atop the podium on Sunday in the women’s tumbling final. Jordyn Miller-Burko of Toronto sits in third place in the senior women’s double mini trampoline event heading into Sunday’s final.

Jon Schwaiger of Calgary, AB has had a terrific two days of competition, finishing in third place following the preliminary rounds in both the senior men’s tumbling and senior men’s double mini trampoline competition. Schwaiger will compete for a medal in both events during the finals on Sunday.

Finals for the Canada Cup will begin at 9:00am MDT on Sunday. For the detailed schedule of events, click here.

To view all the results for the Canada Cup, click here.

  

ABOUT GYMNASTICS CANADA 

First established in 1969, Gymnastics Canada is the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in Canada. Gymnastics Canada works closely with the twelve Provincial Federations and the 700 local clubs to provide a broad range of programs and services to meet the needs of all participants. From athlete development, to coaching and judging education, Gymnastics Canada sets the operating standards and practices for the sport in Canada. Our mandate is to promote and provide positive and diverse gymnastics experience through the delivery of quality and safe gymnastics programming. Visit www.gymcan.org for more information, or follow us @CDNgymnastics

 

-30-

For more information, contact:

Julie Forget
Director, Communications and Marketing
Gymnastics Canada 
Cell: 819.210.2064
Email: jforget@gymcan.org