If you were to ask the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club, it was worth the trip to Calgary last weekend.
A total of 12 gymnasts from the club competed at the University of Calgary International Cup and for four of them, it was a very successful trip as between them, they won eight medals.
James McCarthy/NNSL photo
Emma Leathem was one of two who ended up winning three medals, all of them bronze, in the beam, uneven bars and the all-around competition in the Level 9 category.
It was her first competition at Level 9 and she said it was a great way to start out her time in her new level.
“I worked really hard,” she said. “I wasn't expecting to place or anything like that but I'm really happy with the results.”
Happy even though she admitted it wasn't the best competition she's ever had, she added.
“It was good to see that I came out with the results I had even though it wasn't the best I've ever done,” she said. “It showed I can do better. There were some falls and that gave me the hint that maybe I wouldn't place but I did better than I thought I would do.”
Jade Ko won just a single medal but it's the colour every athlete wants to win.
She won gold in the vault in the Level 8 division and she said it was one of those days where everything just went right for her.
“My goal was to get a medal and I did,” she said. “I wanted gold and I got it.”
Ko admitted her gold medal win came on the back of a less-than-stellar warm-up before competition began on the apparatus.
Overall, she said she was happy with her scored in the other events.
“Some of the events were kind of 'meh' but that was OK because I did my best and the vault made up for it,” she said.
The boys were well-represented on the podium as well as Ty Leathem won a gold medal on the rings in Level 3.
He said part of the reason he won gold was because of an addition to his routine and that helped bump his score higher.
“Back up-rise to L-sit counts as just one skill and John (Tram, head coach) told me to add a shoulder stand and if I didn't add that, I probably wouldn't have gotten first.”
The move was unplanned before the meet but Leathem said he knew how to do it so it wasn't a case of flying blind and hoping for the best.
“I've done it in practice so I knew what I was doing,” he said.
If you're wondering why the levels are lower for the boys, Tram said it's because the boys and the girls are pretty much completely different in terms of everything.
“The events are different, the skills are different, the rules and requirements are different,” he said. “You really can't compare boys and girls at all in gymnastics because of the differences.”
The other gymnast who won three medals? Noel Barrichello, who scored a silver medal in the vault and bronze in the pommel horse and high bar.
A fine performance, for sure, but his silver in the vault could have easily been gold had he not missed out by one-tenth of a point.
“It makes it sting a little more,” said Barrichello.
Tram said he picked out where Barrichello could get his extra one-tenth next time.
“Point his toes a little more,” he joked.
Even though he missed out on gold by the narrowest of margins, Barrichello said he was quite happy with his overall performance.
Tram said the eight medals in Calgary means a successful trip but it was also a good way for the gymnasts to get in some competition.
“We had some good events and some events where we need to do some extra work but overall, a good competition for the team,” he said. “It isn't Canada Winter Games but it's still an important competition in our season and the kids did well.”
Speaking of the Canada Winter Games, Ko and Emma Leathem were two of those who got the chance to compete in Red Deer, Alta., and both said competing there helped with gaining experience.
“Experience-wise, it helped a lot,” said Leathem. “Skill-wise, it was Level 10 so it was really tough getting the time to get the skills down but it helped me for Calgary and I think that's why I placed.”
The team will now prepare for the NWT Gymnastics Championships, which are coming up next month.