Ellie Black headlines Canadian team for gymnastics worlds
Event serves as 1st chance to qualify for 2016 Rio Olympics
Pan Am Games champion Ellie Black will lead 14 Canadian athletes into the world artistic gymnastics championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
Gymnastics Canada made the announcement Friday ahead of the event from Oct. 23 to Nov. 1.
Black, 20, was one of the stars of this past summer's Pan Am Games in Toronto. The Halifax native won five medals, including three gold, one silver and a bronze.
The Glasgow event will serve as the first of two qualifying opportunities for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"To have our best outcome at the worlds, our team just has to focus on the process," said national team director for women's artistic gymnastics Dave Brubaker.
"We're strengthening the whole team as we head into Rio. We have great leadership from Ellie, Brittany [Rogers] and Isabela [Onyshko] and it's really nice to be able to select from a larger pool of athletes. We seem to have more depth built into the program, which is great for the future of gymnastics in Canada."
Two additional reserves for both the men and women will remain in Canada, but could be called on to compete or be a reserve for the world championships.
Olympic qualification process at worlds
Team event
The top eight teams in both the men's and women's competitions will directly qualify for Rio. The teams ranked ninth to 16th will advance to the Olympic test event in Rio in April. The top four teams at that event will secure berths to the Olympics.
Individual
The individual apparatus medal winners at the world championships who are not already part of a qualified team for the Olympics will advance to Rio. Athletes on teams that go to the test event will also contend for individual spots, with a maximum of two male gymnasts and two female gymnasts per country qualifying.
Canada's teams
Women
- Ellie Black, Halifax.
- Madison Copiak, Calgary.
- Isabela Onyshko, Brandon, Man.
- Brittany Rogers, Calgary.
- Audrey Rousseau, La Prairie, Que.
- Sydney Townsend, Conestogo, Ont.
- Victoria-Kayen Woo, Brossard, Que.
Additional reserves
- Maegan Chant, Waterdown, Ont.
- Kirsten Peterman, Cambridge, Ont.
Men
- Zachary Clay, Chilliwack, B.C.
- René Cournoyer, Repentigny, Que.
- Ken Ikeda, Abbotsford, B.C.
- Anderson Loran, Saskatoon, Sask.
- Kevin Lytwyn, Calgary
- Scott Morgan, Vancouver, B.C.
- Hugh Smith, Dartmouth, N.S.
Additional reserves
- Damian Cachia, Calgary
- Robert Watson, Port Coquitlam, B.C.