The goal was clear for the Canadians at the team event at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships on Sunday: place in the top 12 in this discipline in order to meet the Olympic qualification criteria for the Paris Games.
René Cournoyer, Félix Dolci, William Émard, Jayson Rampersad and Zachary Clay left no doubt about the success of this objective, finishing fourth in the discipline. Not only did they get the team ticket to Paris, but they also qualified for the final of the event which will take place on Tuesday in Antwerp, Belgium.
“We are truly euphoric! We are relieved that everything went so well. I think we exceeded expectations both in terms of the ranking and the score. Everyone came out in one piece and we are very excited for the future,” commented René Cournoyer in an interview with Sportcom.
Canada earned a total of 249.260 points in qualifying, placing them behind the Japanese (258.228 points), the Americans (254.628 points) and the British (254.193 points).
Less than 1.1 points separated Canada’s fourth place from China’s eighth place, the last place qualifying for the team final. According to Cournoyer, it was the small details on the more technical devices that made the difference in this first day of competition for him and his teammates.
“I think we stood out on pommel horse and high bar. Historically, we have difficulty on pommel horse, but we worked so hard in training and it materialized today [Sunday]. Then, on the high bar, no one fell and we really delivered the goods. It gave us a little head start over our rivals. »
With the main objective now accomplished, the Canadian gymnasts will attempt to repeat their exploits on Tuesday, during the team final. However, they are aware that the step will be high if they want to succeed in getting on the world podium.
“We are so happy to make it to the team final, we are going to want to do our best. I don’t think we have a new ranking target for the final, the top 3 is really very, very strong. »
In addition to the team final, Cournoyer will be back in action on Thursday for the individual all-around final, having placed 17th in qualifying. As for him, Félix Dolci will participate in the floor and uneven bars finals.
“Honestly, today’s mission was so team oriented that I never really paid attention to my personal results. It’s a bit like the icing on the sundae. I knew I was capable, that it was realistic, but I didn’t really have any expectations. I’m very happy with it,” he said.
For his part, William Émard obtained his best result on the rings with a 13th place while Jayson Rampersad notably ranked 29th on the pommel horse.
On Monday, it will be the turn of the Canadian women’s team to take part in the qualifying events in Antwerp. Rose Woo and Aurélie Tran will be the two Quebecers in action.