In one of Canada’s most-anticipated debuts in a really long time, 15-year-old Ana Padurariu will compete for the first time as a senior at Elite Canada beginning tomorrow in Quebec City.
Padurariu has been dominating as a junior for her entire career, winning the novice all-around titles at Elite Canada and Canadian Championships in 2015 before capturing the junior all-around titles at nationals in both 2016 and 2017, with last year’s performance also including a sweep of the event titles while beating every senior in the field, and she also swept every title at Elite Canada earlier in the year.
In addition to her domestic achievements, Padurariu won 20 international medals in her junior career, 11 of them gold. She swept the Olympic Hopes Cup and won every gold but vault at Pan Am Championships in 2016 before going on to win the beam gold in a stacked field at Jesolo last year, finishing the season with all-around gold at Massilia.
We first profiled Padurariu back in 2015 because we were obsessed with her debut of the inbar piked Tkachev at Gymnix earlier that year, making her the first gymnast in the world to compete the skill. She has since upped her difficulty on all four events, with beam her standout, capable of scores in the mid-14s when she hits.
After going through a growth spurt last year, Padurariu told us she occasionally felt like some of her old skills that once came easily to her required her to relearn them and she worried that it would hold her back in competition, but nonetheless, she got her job done and made her mark time and again, establishing herself as one of the top juniors in the world alongside competitors from legendary programs like Russia, China, and the U.S.
We’re so excited to see what Padurariu will end up doing as a senior, especially as she’ll join three of her country’s 2017 worlds team members at Elite Canada this weekend, including all-around silver medalist Ellie Black, all-around and floor finalist and Longines Prize winner Brooklyn Moors, and vault finalist Shallon Olsen.
These three in addition to Padurariu are expected to continue leading a strong Canadian team as they begin preparations for worlds this year, the first step on the road to qualifying a full team to Tokyo. Generally, we don’t see full-strength routines at Elite Canada, but it’s always a good time for gymnasts to show off upgrades and test the waters before a few early international meets, like the world cups and Jesolo.
We’ll also see 2016 Olympian Rose-Kaying Woo and worlds team member Victoria-Kayen Woo this weekend, as well as Olympic alternate Megan Roberts and international regulars Jade Chrobok, Laurie Denommee, and Sophie Marois at the senior level, while the junior field will include Emma Spence and Zoé Allaire-Bourgie, both of whom competed strongly on the international level last season, and I’m also excited to see first-year juniors Kyra Cato, Rachael Riley, and Sophia King, all of whom were strong novice gymnasts last year.
A full list of competitors is below. Elite Canada begins with the senior all-around on Friday night, followed by the junior and novice all-around competitions on Saturday and then the junior and senior apparatus finals on Sunday. For more information, visit Gymnastics Canada, and check out GymCan.tv for the live stream.
SENIORS | |
Ellie Black Amy Bladon Lindsay Chia Jade Chrobok Haley de Jong Laurie Denommee Megan DiPietro Alexis Djoboulian Jessica Dowling Montana Fairbairn Laurie Gagnon Kelly Johnston Chloe Lorange Sophie Marois Jada Mazury Charlotte McDevitt Lauren Mills |
Emma Milne Eloise Monat Brooklyn Moors Myrelle Morin Chelsea Murray Shallon Olsen Ana Padurariu Xuan Patenaude Amanda Pedicelli Megan Roberts Hannah Scharf Meixi Semple Madeline Straker Laurie-Lou Vezina Emily Walker Rose-Kaying Woo Victoria-Kayen Woo |
JUNIORS | |
Zoe Allaire-Bourgie Kyra Cato Charlotte Chagnon Gabrielle Deslauriers Jordyn Ewing Rachel Grenke Savannah Holman Lucia Jakab Piper Johnson Ilka Juk Okeri Katjivari Sophia King Nya Kraus Jillian Langille |
Valeska Leonard Valerie Menezes-Thibault Jada Niles Imogen Paterson Camryn Pellerine Rachael Riley Emma Spence Mia St-Pierre Mara Steinfort Leah Tindale Bryn Topham Kiera Wai Saki Yoshida |
NOVICES | |
Charlie-Ann Barbeau Gabriella Berrige Hannah Buchmann Jayne Carvell Presley Cattermole Maria Chronopoulous Alexandra Collins Zoe Cotnoir Marisa DeGroot Kennedy Duke Scarlett Earl Marissa Engh Julia Gillies Audrey Grimard Rebeka Groulx Makenna Guidish Athena Hutchinson Bailey Inglis Amy Jorgensen Jordis Kiewer Jenna Lalonde |
Cassie Lee Natasha Lopez Nyla Morabito Rylee Miller Elizabeth Noble Sophie Patterson Kiora Peart-Williams Raphaelle Perreault Daryna Porada Malayna Ramos Clara Raposo Jovie Richardson Jenna Sartoretto Tegan Shaver Megan Skinner Sofia Spadafora Aurelie Tran Emma Trollip Sydney Turner Maya Zonneveld |
Article by Lauren Hopkins
Anyone know where we can stream this?
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They haven’t posted any links yet.
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Just talked to Gymnastics Canada and they said it will be live on gymcan.tv!
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Thanks!
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Thank you! Do you know what time it starts (and could you please add the time zone so I can convert it to my time?)
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Ana is so beautiful to watch ! I’m very excited by some new seniors and she is one of my favorite !
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Ana is doing wonderful! Although I think 14.234 was generously lenient compared to what we saw at worlds.
Brooklyn’s floor was, again, like watching a unicorn breath life into humanity.
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I agree, her beam was definitely generous…but at least most were at this specific competition! If she hits her beam without nerves affecting her it’s a solid 14-14.5 but this at worlds would’ve been like…a 12.8 hahaha. Brooklyn’s floor is the only reason I LIVE.
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Any idea what happened to Isabela Onyshko?
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