Félix Dolci helps Canada progress to first men's artistic gymnastics final in Olympic return
Saint-Eustache, Que. native also qualifies for men's individual all-around final
Félix Dolci led the way for Canada in the men's artistic gymnastics team event on Saturday, buoying the group to the final, finishing eighth after the qualifying rounds at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
In an Olympics that sees Canada with a full men's and women's artistic gymnastics team for the first time since Athens 2004, the group of René Cournoyer, Zachary Clay, Dolci, William Émard and Samuel Zakutney combined for 247.794 points, good for the final qualifying spot.
Team Canada's participation in the men's team event is its first since Beijing 2008 and Saturday marked the first time Canada has qualified for the final at the Olympic Games.
Also advancing to Monday's final were China, Japan, Great Britain, Ukraine, the United States, Italy and Switzerland, with the Canadian team claiming the final qualification spot in front of Turkey and the Netherlands, which also finished within 247 points.
Dolci (81.498) and Cournoyer (80.798) found their way into the men's individual all-around final, finishing 22nd and 26th respectively, and will be the lone Canadian representatives in men's individual events.
The final of the men's team event starts Monday, with the men's individual all-around final set for Wednesday at Bercy Arena, streaming live on the CBC Sports Paris 2024 website and app.
WATCH | Dolci collects individual all-around Pan Am gold in 2023:
Dolci, a native of Saint-Eustache, Que., also led the Canadian contingent in the horizontal bar with 14.133 points, good for 13th overall, the floor exercise, where he also scored 14.133 points, ranking 14th on the apparatus and the vault, where he scored 14.333.
The men's team event features six apparatus (floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar), and Canada's final qualifying total was short of the 249.260 the team scored at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, where they secured Olympic qualification.
Scores will be reset in the final.
The 22-year-old led Canada's efforts through the day, and came into the Games after becoming the first Canadian since 1963 to win Pan Am artistic gymnastics gold at the Santiago 2023 Games. He also powered Canada to a silver medal in the men's team event a year prior at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, where he won silver in the men's floor exercise and a fourth-place finish in the individual all-around.
No Canadians qualified in the other five apparatus of the men's team event.
