Canadian Men’s Gymnastics Team Qualify For Paris 2024 After 16 Years

Summary

• Canadian men’s gymnastics team made the final at the artistic worlds in Antwerp, Belgium
• Canada will now be able to send the them to the 2024 Paris Olympics
• The last time a men’s gymnastics team from Canada made the Olympics was in 2008

There was lot on the line over the weekend for the Canadian men’s gymnastics team who were competing at the Artistic Worlds in Antwerp, Belgium.

The men’s gymnastics team needed to perform well across six disciplines and score enough points to qualify in the top twelve.

They knew that if they made the top twelve, they would also book themselves a place in the 2024 Paris Olympics which is set to take place from 26 July to 11 Aug and join the Men’s Basketball team there.

Canadian Men’s Gymnastics Team Reach Finals

The 6 men that were part of Team Canada were Yanni Chronopoulo, Rene Cournoyer, William Emard, Felix Dolci, Zachary Clay and Jayson Rampersad. They did extremely well across all 6 events that saw them finish in fourth in the rankings and qualify for the finals which will take place on 03 Oct.

Canada ended up getting 249.260 points across their 6 events which will give them a lot of confidence going into the finals. Japan took the first spot with 258.228 points, the United States came in second with 254.528 points and Great Britain finished in third place with 254.193 points. 

Apart from the above countries who made it to the final, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and China will also compete in the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship finals which will be live streamed in Canada on Oct 2 via the CBC Sports app and CBCSports.ca. 

First Time Qualifying For Olympics Since 2008

This is a huge achievement for the Canadian men’s gymnastics team as the last time Team Canada sent a men’s gymnastics team to the Olympics was in 2008. Team Canada’s head national team coach Ed Van Hoof and the six team members were very happy with what they have achieved so far.

In a statement, Ed Van Hoof said

What a competition — the atmosphere, emotion, team spirit. Incredible! This result speaks volumes for the team work that has brought us to this position. This team has responded to adversity over the past few years and risen to the occasion. The team was well prepared and confident going in and produced an historic result. Hopefully, it will inspire the next generation.