Gold and silver medal for artistic junior gymnasts in Japan
YOKOHAMA, JPN (September 18, 2017) – Canada’s junior artistic gymnasts gained phenomenal experience and yielded terrific results, including a gold and silver medal, at the 2017 International Junior Gymnastics Competition in Yokohama, Japan this weekend.
William Emard of Laval, QC was crowned the champion on rings following a stellar performance and scoring 13.900 overall. Emard led the field on rings following the qualification round and edged out Dehang Yin of China by .100 points in the final to capture the gold medal.
“The competition went really well for me,” said Emard following competition. “I was successful in winning a gold medal in rings with a execution score of 9.3, which is great. It was a great feeling sticking my landing because it rarely happens, this was my best ever rings score! My other finals were a learning experience for me, I made mistakes on both vault passes but was able to try new movements on high bar.”
Emard finished in eighth in the vault final and sixth in the high bar finals. He also finished 20th in the all-around with a score of 66.250, but did not compete on pommel horse.
Ana Padurariu of Whitby, ON finished in a tie for second place in the beam final and took home the silver medal along with Emma Malabuyo of the United States. Padurariu’s score of 14.333 in the final was also an improvement on her 13.700 score from preliminaries.
Padurariu, the reigning Canadian junior all-around and apparatus champion, finished fifth in the uneven bars finals and fifth in the all-around final with a score of 52.850.
Emma Spence of Cambridge, ON finished tied for seventh in the vault final, seventh in the beam final, and .534 points back of Padurariu in the uneven bar final to finish sixth. Spence also finished eighth in the all-around with a final score of 51.100 points.
Darren Wong of Vancouver, BC finished sixth in the floor final and eighth in the rings final. Wong also finished 10th in the all-around competition scoring 75.400 points.
For full competition results, click here.