GLASGOW, Scotland, October 26 — In a nerve wracking day for Canada at the 2015 artistic gymnastics world championships, the national men’s team placed 15th to earn a berth at the final qualification event for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The top eight countries from the qualification round at this year’s world championships clinched a spot directly for the Games, while teams ranked from ninth to 16th, Canada included, will battle it out for the final four berths in April at the Olympic test event in Rio de Janiero.
Japan topped the 24-team men’s event held over two days with a total score of 358.884, also advancing to the world championship team final on Wednesday.
China placed second with 357.027 points and Great Britain was third at 354.417.
The Canadian squad earned its spot at the final Olympic qualifier with a score of 339.781 points.
Members of the team are Scott Morgan of Vancouver, Ken Ikeda of Abbotsford, B.C., and Kevin Lytwyn of Stoney Creek, Ont., Hugh Smith of Halifax, Rene Cournoyer of Repentigny, Que., and Anderson Loran of Saskatoon.
Canadian national team director Tony Smith of Calgary said the team performed well in some events but needed improvement in others to have a good shot at making it to the Olympics.
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Looking ahead to the final Olympic qualifier, team members were upbeat.
“We’ve got to keep working hard,” said Lytwyn, making his fifth world championship appearance. “There’s no time off, we need to stay healthy and keep going.”
Sourced and abbreviated from Gymnastics Canada