Team Canada Rhythmic Gymnasts gain Valuable Experience at Inaugural Junior World Championships
Gymnastics Canada – MOSCOW, RUS (July 20, 2019) – The inaugural Junior World Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics wrapped up for Canada on Saturday, with the team, consisting of individual athletes Michel Vivier of Vaughn, ON, and Elizabeth Savchenko of Montreal, QC, and the group from Glimmer Athletic in Toronto, ON, finishing 22nd overall. The group also finished 21st out of 33 teams in the group all-around competition. There was no individual all-around competition.
Viver, the 2019 Canadian junior all-around champion, competed in three apparatus – rope, ball, and clubs and finished 19th, 12th, and 14th overall respectively in each. Savchenko only competed her ribbon routine and had some difficulties to finish 48th overall. The top-8 finishers in each apparatus have advanced to the finals which take place Sunday in Moscow.
“I am simply speechless – these world championships were filled with many different emotions and being able to compete for Canada makes me feel extremely proud of myself,” said Vivier. “I was able to complete the competition with no harsh mistakes and I was able to meet amazing gymnasts like (2016 Olympic gold medallist) Margarita Mamun, and many more. My goal for next year as a senior is to be able to compete for Canada and to have Canada be one of the top 10 countries in world.”
“I am extremely honoured to have gotten the opportunity to represent Canada at the first-ever rhythmic gymnastics junior world championships in Moscow,” said Savchenko who finished second in the AA competition at the 2019 Canadian Championships in May. “This competition has been an amazing experience and I am very thankful for all the support I’ve been given and for this opportunity. My competition didn’t quite go as planned, but that’s why I’m going to take everything that I learned here and use it to correct my mistakes as I prepare for the senior level next year.”
The group, composed of Katerina Berestetsky and Bobbi Rimrott of Mississauga, ON, Marta Kovalevych of Concord, ON, Alissa Levytskyy and Anna Lunga of Etobicoke, ON, and Sianna Tsakiridis of Markham, ON who train out of the Glimmer Athletic Club, had two strong performances and finished 18th overall with their 5 ribbons routine, and 23rd overall with their 5 hoops routine to finish 21st overall with a score of 30.350. Russia dominated the group competition, and took the group all-around gold medal with a total score of 49.550. Italy took the silver with a score of 45.100, and Belarus took the bronze with a total score of 43.100.
Russia also took the team gold medal followed by Italy and Israel with silver and bronze respectively.
The competition will wrap up on Sunday with the individual and group apparatus finals.
For full results, please visit: https://live.fig-gymnastics.com/schedule.php?idevent=15968
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