Two local girls advanced to the national gymnastics championships as a result of fine performances in the Ontario finals last week.
Christina McDonald, 13, racked up five gold medals on her way to winning the Ontario junior women’s title. She won the overall championship by out-pointing her competitors on the vault, beam, bars, and floor routine.
Christina, a student at St. John the Evangelist Catholic School, was also presented with a special certificate after successfully performing a rare cartwheel back tuck with a full twist. She is the first Canadian girl to ever perform this move.
Christina, who has been a gymnast for 7 years, placed sixteenth at a Canadian selection meet in February, but she has improved a great dead since then, said assistant coach Debbie Vidmar.
Both Lori Strong and Christina work under the instruction of coaches Debbie Vidmar and Leonard Grabowski at the Oshawa Gymnastic Club. The girls spend four or five hours a day in the gym practising.
Ms. Vidmar believes it is essential for the girls to get training in a club, apart from the school gymnastic programs.
“We appreciate the teaching of gymnastics in school because it supplies a wide base for the sport but you can’t really learn gym in school,” she said.
Christina could stand to make Canada’s Pan Am Games team but that will depend on her performance at the Canadian finals and a decision by the Canadian Gymnastic Federation over whether or not to send junior competitors to the Games. Christina will also be eligible to try out for next year’s Olympic squad but first on both her and Lori’s minds is the Canadian championships May 24 in St. John’s Newfoundland.
