This weekend marks the big 25th anniversary International Gymnix competition, and it’s going to be an excellent year, with big names from around the world competing at several levels.
The Senior and Junior Cup events will feature teams of gymnasts sent by their national programs, while the Challenge will feature both juniors and seniors competing mostly for their club gyms, though the smaller program federations of Chile and Trinidad & Tobago have registered gymnasts for this event as well.
Three Canadian and two Belgian teams make up the bulk of the Senior Cup, with the Netherlands and Japan also sending gymnasts. Recent 2016 Elite Canada champion Isabela Onyshko will lead the “Canada Power” team while the “Canada Rams” and “Canada Max” teams all feature young seniors hoping to impress as they work toward spots on the Olympic team, including standout first-year Rose-Kaying Woo.
For Belgium, nine of their Olympic hopefuls will contend after going through a selection event a couple of weeks ago. Their first team includes Laura Waem in addition to the three new seniors expected to make major waves this year as they attempt to qualify a full team to Rio, Nina Derwael, Axelle Klinckaert, and Senna Deriks. The second team has veterans Julie Croket and Gaelle Mys on the roster as well as 2015 worlds standouts Cindy Vandenhole and Rune Hermans alongside new senior Julie Meyers. I believe based on their selection results that due to the four-member teams here, Croket’s scores won’t count toward the team totals, so this will be more of a personal test for her.
The Netherlands has only two gymnasts competing, including new senior Kirsten Polderman alongside fan favorite Eythora Thorsdottir. Maartje Ruikes was expected to be the third member, but she unfortunately ruptured her Achilles over the weekend while performing on floor at the Sidijk Tournament. And for Japan, we’ll see new senior and recent WOGA Classic champion Nagi Kajita in addition to Yuna Hiraiwa and the powerful Sae Miyakawa.
The big excitement with the Junior Cup this week was the official announcement of the U.S. team, which features Jordan Chiles, Emma Malabuyo, Gabby Perea, and Deanne Soza. Their biggest competition will be the Canadian team – where the young superstars Jade Chrobok and Ana Padurariu will lead Victoria Jurca and Haley de Jong – as well as the Russian team, featuring Anastasia Ilyankova, Ulyana Perebinosova, Valeria Sayfullina, and Varvara Zubova.
Other top contenders here include Romania with Olivia Cimpian and the superb vaulter Denisa Golgota headlining their squad and Great Britain featuring the 2016 Welsh junior champion Maisie Methuen. Japan, Belgium, and France will have teams in attendance as well.
The big names on the list for the Challenge include Marisa Dick of Trinidad & Tobago as well as the Chilean gymnasts Simona Castro and Makarena Pinto. Both of these nations have Test Event spots open in April and are still deciding on the gymnast who will represent them in Rio, so this will be a great opportunity for these three to show what they are capable of.
Otherwise, several clubs from Canada, Mexico, Belgium, France, Scotland, and the United States have registered gymnasts here. WOGA will send their newly-qualified junior elite Irina Alexeeva, Kidsport is sending senior Lexy Ramler, Parkettes has five young gymnasts on the roster, Dynamo of Canada will send four up-and-comers (including Brooklyn Moors, who impressed on floor at Elite Canada), and City of Glasgow’s gymnastics club will send 2016 Scottish champion Cara Kennedy.
The Senior Cup will be held on Friday at 6:30, the Challenge meet on Saturday at 12:30, and the Junior Cup on Saturday at 6:30. The Senior and Junior Cups will feature team and all-around competitions while the Challenge meet will be all-around only; additionally, all three will act as qualifiers for apparatus finals, with the eight best gymnasts on each event from each division competing for event titles on Sunday beginning at 1:30.
Full lists of all International Gymnix competitors are below. For more information, check out our coverage guide.
Senior Cup
| Belgium Team 1 Senna Deriks Nina Derwael Axelle Klinckaert Laura Waem |
Belgium 2 Julie Croket Rune Hermans Julie Meyers Gaelle Mys Cindy Vandenhole |
| Canada “Rams” Madison Copiak Audrey Rousseau Sydney Townsend Rose-Kaying Woo |
Canada “Power” Isabela Onyshko Kirsten Peterman Laurie-Lou Vezina Victoria-Kayen Woo |
| Canada “Max” Helody Cyrenne Shallon Olsen Meixi Semple Sydney Soloski |
Japan Yuna Hiraiwa Nagi Kajita Sae Miyakawa |
| Netherlands Kirsten Polderman Eythora Thorsdottir |
Junior Cup
| Belgium Maellyse Brassart Manon Muller Myrthe Potoms Alysha Senders |
Canada Jade Chrobok Haley de Jong Victoria Jurca Ana Padurariu |
| France Lorette Charpy Assia Khnifass Alisson Lapp Janna Mouffok |
Great Britain Taeja James Alice Kinsella Maisie Methuen Ellesse Oates |
| Japan Soyoka Hanawa Kiko Kuwajima Mana Oguchi |
Romania Alisia Botnaru Olivia Cimpian Ioana Crisan Denisa Golgota |
| Russia Anastasia Ilyankova Ulyana Perebinosova Valeria Sayfullina Varvara Zubova |
United States Jordan Chiles Emma Malabuyo Gabby Perea Deanne Soza |
Challenge
| Irina Alexeeva, WOGA Shannon Archer, City of Glasgow Marjorie Bastien, Viagym Meleah Bell, Parkettes Ines Ben Rhouma, Pole Marseille Amy Bladon, Bluewater Shaelyn Brown, Capital City Simona Castro, Chile Jenna Coleman, Parkettes Marisa Dick, Trinidad & Tobago Megan DiPietro, Dynamo Emilie Dumont, Viagym Montana Fairbairn, Stampede City Danae Fletcher, Parkettes Paulina Guerra, Elite Gymnastics Goldie Harder, Calgary Ilka Juk, Omega Cara Kennedy, City of Glasgow Chloe Leblicq, FfG Megan Link, Parkettes |
Madai Lopez, Gymnos Sophie Marois, Viagym Eloise Monat, Equilibrix Brooklyn Moors, Dynamo Jenna Murdock, Can-Am Fiona Oke, Pole Marseille Melissa Paries, Pole Marseille Jordyn Pedersen, Manjaks Megan Phillips, Gymnix Makarena Pinto, Chile Andrea Pirsh, Gymnos Enya Pouliot, Taiso Lexy Ramler, Kidsport Meaghan Ruttan, Calgary Alix Scandella, Pole St-Etienne Sophie Shaver, Unigym Stephanie Sim, Dynamo Claire Tunnell, Parkettes Sayge Urban, Dynamo Emily Walker, Marian |
Article by Lauren Hopkins
