Gymnastics Canada – MINSK, BLR (August 19, 2018) – Canadian rhythmic gymnasts competed at the FIG World Challenge Cup in Minsk, Belarus this weekend in both the individual and group competition.
 
2018 Canadian champion, Sophie Crane of Toronto, ON led the Canadian contingent, finishing 38^th overall in the individual competition with a score of 55.150. Crane’s highest finish of the weekend came in clubs, where she finished 27^th and scored 15.150.
 
“Overall, I think I did fairly well at this competition,” said Crane. “For the most part, I was able to produce clean routines and I’m happy with my performances. I felt less nervous at this competition and I think that really helped me during my routines. For World Championships, my goal is to produce clean routines and show the judges all the hard work we’ve put into preparing my routines. I think I did a decent job of showing that at this competition, but of course, there is always room for improvement. Specifically, I’d like to improve my endurance and speed during my routines so I’ll definitely be working on that prior to leaving for Worlds.”
 
Canadian team veteran Katherine Uchida of Toronto, ON finished 43^rd overall, scoring 53.800 points. “Friday’s performances were really strong. I think that was one of the best ball routines I’ve done in competition so I was really excited going into day two,” said Uchida. “Saturday was disappointing because ribbon is my favourite routine and I didn’t get to show it and clubs was also not as strong as it could’ve been. But now I know what to focus on for the future and I’m just going to learn from this experience. For World Championships, I want to work on my endurance through many routines so I don’t need to worry about getting tired. Hopefully with better endurance I’ll feel more confident when performing my routines.”
 
For the Canadian group, this weekend was not what they were hoping for, pulling out of the competition following an injury during their five hoops routine.
 
“Unfortunately, this was not our best competition for a number of reasons,” said group member Elizabet Belittchenko of Toronto, ON. “We look at every competition as a learning experience, so we will not let this performance bring us down, especially after all of the hard work we achieved in during our training camp in Marbella. During the next few weeks our priority will be to work on execution and perfecting the little details of the routine. In Marbella, we raised our difficulty by almost five points in each routine, therefore, we are ready to go to Worlds and show everyone what we’re made of.
 
Crane, Uchida, and the group will all compete in Bulgaria at the World Championships September 10 – 16, 2018. For more information on the competition, click here.
 
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