London Calling

Moors, Canadians shine in team final

 

Victoria Moors performs on the beams in the Olympic team gymnastics final Tuesday. Record video

LONDON — No one, except for maybe five young women from Canada, expected this.

Canada’s artistic gymnastic team delivered a historic performance at their first-ever Olympic team final in London, narrowly missing out on a medal and letting the world’s gymnastics powerhouses know that Canada is no longer an also-ran competitor.

For a team that’s never come this far, a fifth-place finish was a huge cause for celebration from a group of young women who looked far more composed and confident than their first appearance at the Games two days ago.

“Our goal was to just finish top eight. But coming to the Olympics and finishing fifth, we weren’t expecting that. It’s unreal right now,” said an ecstatic Victoria Moors of Cambridge.

When the final scores appeared on the big screen at the centre of the North Greenwich Arena, the gymnasts — Moors, Elisabeth Black, Dominique Pegg, Kristina Vaculik and Brittany Rogers — leapt into each others arms and started crying.

They had toppled gymnastics giants, like Italy and Great Britain, and had shown they could bounce back from a nervous performance on Sunday.

The team, comprised of four teenagers and a 20-year-old, did that and more. Afterward, Moors and the rest of the Canadians were already looking ahead to the next Olympics, 2016’s Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“We upset a lot of big countries. We definitely raised the bar for Canada, we’re leaving a trail for the next people, and for Rio,” she said. “We just decided to go out there and go strong.”

Moors competed in two of four events in the team final, scoring 14.600 on floor and 13.700 on the uneven bars. That left Canada with a combined score of 170.804, less than four points behind China.

The U.S. won gold in the final with 183.596 points, Russia had silver with 178.530 and Romania took bronze with 176.414.

Canada qualified on Sunday for the eighth and last place in the gymnastics team final. In doing that, they made history — as the first Canadian team to ever qualify for a team final at the Olympics.

“History to me is like looking back in a textbook at school. Seeing that written down, that Canada placed fifth at the 2012 Olympic Games, we’ve all dreamed of this. Our minds are completely blown,” said Rogers.

“We really put our team first. We didn’t think of ourselves, we just said, ‘no regrets, no looking back.’”

What most people watching didn’t know is that Moors was competing with two tears in the muscles in her lower back, discovered about three weeks ago. The 15-year-old student at Bishop Macdonell high school in Guelph wanted to deal with the pain and continue her training.

Gymnastics Canada, meanwhile, had to decide whether to let the injured gymnast compete, or replace her with one of two alternates.

“I think she proved today they made the right decision. I’m so proud of her,” said Elvira Saadi, the longtime coach who has worked with Moors since she was a little girl at the Cambridge Kips gymnastics club.

“She was sore, but she didn’t think about herself. She just thought about her team.”

Saadi was quickly given coaching accreditation after Sunday’s qualification round, and worked directly with her gymnast in the last two days to restore Moors’ confidence.

Moors, at 15, has gained national attention as the youngest Canadian athlete at these Games. The attention from the Olympics has turned Moors into a celebrity in gymnastics circles, with a growing fan base on Twitter and the subject of tribute videos on YouTube.

After missing her shot at an individual final after Sunday’s qualification round, Moors did this one for her team. The coaches from each country chose three gymnasts to compete on the four apparatuses of bars, beam, vault and floor, and went with Moors’ strengths.

This time on the floor, Moors controlled the nerves that caused stumbles on Sunday and gave a command performance that stole the attention of the 20,000-capacity arena, filled with an electrified crowd that included the likes of Prince Harry.

With the largest audience of her life watching on TV, Moors tumbled, danced and leapt to the dramatic tempo of the Assassin’s Tango, a song she’s performed to countless times since introducing her routine three years ago.

She had 90 seconds to wow the judges and did that with a performance that had movements at the highest level of difficulty rated by gymnastics.

“I just wanted to go out there and show the world I could improve,” Moors said.

Her family and teammate Madeline Gardiner — chosen for the Olympics but unused as an alternate — were among a small but vocal Canadian contingent cheering from the stands in the packed arena, filled to the rafters mostly with supporters for Great Britain and the U.S.

Moors’ competition at the Olympics is now done, and she’ll turn into a supporter cheering for teammates Pegg, Black and Rogers, who qualified for individual events.

Canadians steal win back from charged-up Brits

Kitchener's Chelsea Aubry goes up for a shot against Great Britain Monday nighht. Toronto Star

LONDON – There was a moment late in Monday’s basketball game when the Canadians must have thought it was déjà vue, all over again.

With a roaring, near-capacity crowd at the Olympic Basketball Arena putting a charge into the underdog Great Britain team, Canada watched another lead slip away with only minutes left to play.

But unlike Saturday’s loss, when they blew a 10-point lead to Russia, Canada showed composure. They dug in, got some key rebounds and made big shots to pull the game back in a 73-65 win, to make Canada’s record 1-1 at the Olympics.

“I think a lot of us were looking back at that Russian game and going, ‘Oh crap, not again,’” said guard Shona Thorburn, who led Canada with 18 points.

Guelph’s Natalie Achonwa came up big in the fourth quarter when Canada needed a physical presence under the net. She came on the court telling herself she needed to get tough against a scrappy, hard-working British squad.

“In my head, I was thinking, ‘Get a rebound, get a rebound, get a rebound,’” the 19-year-old said.

“There was point where they started gaining momentum, we got a couple rebounds and we turned that right back. We never gave up, and think that showed the real Canadian drive and heart that we have.”

Kitchener’s Chelsea Aubry said the Canadians knew the Brits would make for a rough game, with plenty of turn-overs and fouls. Forget their No. 49 world ranking, Great Britain is well-coached, aggressive team, she said.

“We knew it was going to be a tough, chippy game,” she said. “We knew it was going to come down to the wire, and in the end, we made more shots.”

The crowd was certainly the “sixth man” in the game, as Britain’s Jo Leedham said. They booed viciously when Canada tried for free throws and were deafening when the home team took the lead in the fourth quarter.

“You hear the boos, but in your head, you just think, ‘Oh, they’re cheering for me,’” Aubry said.

The Canadians got a buzz playing for such a big crowd, even if they were cheering for the other side, Achonwa said.

“We’re so used to not having anyone come to our games. Even if they are supporting the other team, it’s great to have some many people in the arena to support a women’s basketball game,” she said.

Thorburn, who was a calming presence down the stretch, was happy for the bounce-back win after losing 58-53 to No. 3-ranked Russia on Saturday.

“It was an ugly win, but we grinded it out,” she said. “We knew this was going to be a hostile, loud environment. But that’s what the Olympics is about. That’s what you want. You want to play in front of people.”

Some Guelph basketball fans may remember Thornburn, who as teenager could be found on the sidelines at Gryphons games. Her aunt is Angela Orton, the longtime former coach of the women’s team at the university.

Thorburn, of Hamilton, knows Canada may not have any flashy offensive stars, but it’s No. 11 world ranking doesn’t mean it’s going to be a push-over, she said.

“I know we were the last team to make (the Olympics), but we believe we deserve to be here. I think we’re as talented and we’ve worked as hard if not harder than all the other teams here,” she said.

Canada plays No. 8-ranked France Wednesday morning, No. 6 Brazil on Friday and No. 2 Australia on Sunday in the final game of the round-robin at the Olympics.

gmercer@therecord.com

Wilkinson ‘heartbroken’ by ninth-place finish

LONDON – Julia Wilkinson will have to live with the agony of ninth place after narrowly missing her chance to advance to the final in the women’s 100-metre backstroke at the Olympics.

The Stratford swimmer broke down in tears after racing 59.91 in the semi-finals at the Olympic Aquatic Centre last night. That put her less than one-tenth of a second out of the last spot for the final.

“I raced like I was racing for a gold medal. I failed, and it’s heartbreaking. But you gotta believe you can win, or else it’s impossible,” she said. “It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I did everything I could. Ninth is horrible.”

She had done what she could to calm her nerves, even calling her yoga instructor back in Victoria. The two talked by Skype about controlling her anxiety about the race.

It’s no consolation to the 25-year-old she swam the second fastest 100-metre backstroke of her life in Sunday’s semi-final, beating her time from the morning’s heat, when she swam it in 59.94.

Wilkinson had thought the final was hers, and that the podium was within reach. She was full of confidence after placing second in her heat this morning, with Russia’s Anastasia Zueva touching the wall just fractions of a second ahead after a flat-out sprint.

“I think I saw God in the last 20 metres,” she said, after that first race. “He was singing The Final Countdown.”

Wilkinson admits she fell back on an old bad habit before her heat Sunday morning, throwing up in a bathroom when nerves got the best of her.

“I was like, ‘this is the biggest meet and the biggest day of my life, so I’m OK with this,’” she said. “Then I felt better. It’s an adrenaline thing.”

But she maintained her composure before her second race, although she fell short of her goal.

“I was excited, I felt I belonged there. I was ready to go to fight,” she said. “It just didn’t work out.”

It’s the second disappointment in two days for the Stratford swimmer. Her 4x100 metre freestyle team failed to advance to the final on Saturday night.

Wilkinson has two more events at these Games before her second Olympics are over. She’s set to race in the 100-metre freestyle Wednesday, then swim in the 4x100 metre medley relay on Friday.

Wilkinson ‘heartbroken’ by ninth-place finish

Greg Mercer, Record staff

LONDON – Julia Wilkinson will have to live with the agony of ninth place after narrowly missing her chance to advance to the final in the women’s 100-metre backstroke at the Olympics.

The Stratford swimmer broke down in tears after racing 59.91 in the semi-finals at the Olympic Aquatic Centre last night. That put her less than one-tenth of a second out of the last spot for the final.

“I raced like I was racing for a gold medal. I failed, and it’s heartbreaking. But you gotta believe you can win, or else it’s impossible,” she said. “It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I did everything I could. Ninth is horrible.”

She had done what she could to calm her nerves, even calling her yoga instructor back in Victoria. The two talked by Skype about controlling her anxiety about the race.

It’s no consolation to the 25-year-old she swam the second fastest 100-metre backstroke of her life in Sunday’s semi-final, beating her time from the morning’s heat, when she swam it in 59.94.

Wilkinson had thought the final was hers, and that the podium was within reach. She was full of confidence after placing second in her heat this morning, with Russia’s Anastasia Zueva touching the wall just fractions of a second ahead after a flat-out sprint.

“I think I saw God in the last 20 metres,” she said, after that first race. “He was singing The Final Countdown.”

Wilkinson admits she fell back on an old bad habit before her heat Sunday morning, throwing up in a bathroom when nerves got the best of her.

“I was like, ‘this is the biggest meet and the biggest day of my life, so I’m OK with this,’” she said. “Then I felt better. It’s an adrenaline thing.”

But she maintained her composure before her second race, although she fell short of her goal.

“I was excited, I felt I belonged there. I was ready to go to fight,” she said. “It just didn’t work out.”

It’s the second disappointment in two days for the Stratford swimmer. Her 4x100 metre freestyle team failed to advance to the final on Saturday night.

Wilkinson has two more events at these Games before her second Olympics are over. She’s set to race in the 100-metre freestyle Wednesday, then swim in the 4x100 metre medley relay on Friday.

gmercer@therecord.com

Moors and Canadians make Olympic history

Victoria Moors practices Thursday inside the Olympic gymnastics arena. CP file photo

LONDON — Victoria Moors and her teammates were staring at the scoreboard in the North Greenwhich Arena, waiting to explode.

When history is on the line, you have a right to be excited. Finally, the numbers came up — and they showed a Canadian first. The artistic gymnastics team had squeaked its way into the Olympic team finals, a first for Canadians in a non-boycotted Games.

“It’s just unreal. We were watching the scoreboard when we saw it, and we all started screaming,” she said. “Canada is making some noise.”

The last time Canadian gymnasts made a team final at the Olympics, it was at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. But several gymnastic powerhouses, including the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc partners, didn’t compete in those Games because of a Cold War boycott.

Canada remained in six place after four rounds of team qualifications Sunday. With only two full teams left in the last round of qualification, Moors and her teammates knew they were guaranteed to be in the top eight teams that advance to the final.

“The second I realized they made the team final, I started following the sound of the screams. They were crying,” said Moors’ mother, Lisa Rutledge. “It wasn’t easy for them to get here. The fact they made the team final, that’s icing on the cake.”

The Canadians, who also include Dominique Pegg of Sarnia, Kristina Vaculik of Whitby, Elisabeth Black of Halifax and Brittany Rogers of New Westminister, B.C, overcame some nervous stumbles to inch past the Germans in scoring Sunday.

Canadian fans, waving flags and covered in red and white, mobbed the young women in a mall outside the gymnastics arena and cheered them like heroes.

Moors — who at 15 is the youngest Canadian athlete in London — fought nerves that had her on the verge of tears as she started the competition Sunday.

She had hoped her performance was good enough to earn her a spot in the finals for floor, her strongest event, in individual competition. But the young gymnast fell short in that goal, scoring 14.100.

But Moors knows one thing for certain — the Canadians will compete in the team final with gymnastic heavyweights like the Russians, Americans and Chinese.

Moors’ coaches pulled her out of all-around competition at the last minute, and she said she didn’t know why. Pegg, meanwhile, finished 18th all-around, meaning she’ll compete again in all events.

Black and Rogers also qualified for the vault final.

Moors said she was pleased with her 90-second effort on the floor, which included pulling off a double-double, or a double twisting, double back somersault tumble, one of the most difficult tumbling moves in gymnastics.

“It could have gone a little better, but it’s alright. I’m still happy I’m here,” the Bishop Macdonnell high school student said afterward. “My main goal in life was to go to the Olympics, and I accomplished that.”

She admits to being nervous walking out into the competition area, in front of a boisterous crowd and an army of cameras. She also had to overcome the distraction of the crowd cheering themselves hoarse for the Great Britain team while other gymnasts competed around the arena.

Nerves seemed to overcome the gymnast a bit when she struggled on the balance beam, at a corner of the arena packed with British soldiers in the stands.

“It’s tough the focus, especially on the beam. When you hear all that yelling, it’s tough to keep your head straight,” she said.

And she knows she’s here competing against the absolute best in the world.

“It’s tough, there’s a lot of experienced girls here,” she said. “I was extremely nervous, almost in tears.”

The Canadians were in a qualification grouping with the powerhouse American team that is anchored by Jordyn Wieber, Alexandra Raisman and Gabby Douglas, heavy favourites for all-around gold in London. They finished second, third and fourth in the individual all-around category.

Because of the way the events are structured, the gymnasts will be teammates one day during the team competition, but will turn into each other’s biggest rivals the next.

'I think I saw God in the last 20 metres'

Stratford's Julia, seen here training with a snorkel earlier this week, advanced to Sunday's semi-final in the 100-metre backstroke. Toronto Star photo

LONDON – Julia Wilkinson swam the second fastest 100-metre backstroke of her life at the Olympics Sunday morning, advancing to the semi-finals in an event she thinks she can take a medal in.        

The Stratford swimmer was in a flat-out sprint to the finish, with Russia’s Anastasia Zueva touching the wall just fractions of a second ahead of Wilkinson, who broke the one minute mark at 59.94.

“I think I saw God in the last 20 metres,” she said. “He was singing The Final Countdown.”

Wilkinson said her plan in the heat was to keep pace with American Rachel Bootsma, one of the fastest swimmers in the race. The U.S. swimmer came third, at 1:00.03.

Wilkinson admits she fell back on an old bad habit before her heat, throwing up in a bathroom when nerves got the best of her.

“I was like, ‘this is the biggest meet and the biggest day of my life, so I’m okay with this,’” she said. “Then I felt better. It’s an adrenaline thing.”

The women’s 100-metre backstroke semi-finals go today at 2:30 p.m. ET inside the Olympic Park’s wave-shaped Aquatic Centre. The top 16 swimmers from this morning’s heats advanced.

Tonight, Wilkinson says she might not push quite so hard in the race’s first 50 metres, but she’ll give it everything she has.

The plan is to “just go for it. Race to win,” she said.

Wilkinson's team falls short in relay race

LONDON – Stratford’s Julia Wilkinson and her teammates in the freestyle relay race came up short in their hopes to make it into the event’s finals on the opening day of the Olympics.

Wilkinson, Victoria Poon of Montreal, Samantha Cheverton of Pointe-Clair, Que., and Etobicoke’s Heather MacLean were 3.26 seconds behind the winning Australian team, which swam the race in three minutes, 36.34 seconds.

Only the top eight relay teams advanced to Saturday night’s final.

Wilkinson, appearing in her second Olympics, has three other events she’s competing in at these Games: The 100-metre backstroke, 100-metre freestyle and the 4x100 medley relay race.

She races Sunday morning in her strongest event, the 100-metre backstroke. She’s in the fifth heat of the morning, in a race that includes fellow Canadian Sinead Russell of Burlington.

The semi-final for that event will be held Sunday night, with the final on Monday.

Canada lets Olympic opener slip away

Guelph's Natalie Achonwa fights for a loose ball as Team Canada nearly upsets heavily favoured Russia before losing 58-53. Toronto Star photo

LONDON – Chelsea Aubry has waited an awfully long time for that three-point shot.

Aubry, the Kitchener native who is a 10-year veteran of Canada’s women’s basketball team, drained an arching jump shot a minute into the Canadians’game against Russia Saturday, on the opening day of women’s basketball at the Olympics.

Aubry’s three-pointer sparked a big Canadian run that ended with the Canucks up 30-24 at half-time. But the Russians exploded in the final quarter of the game, going on an 18-point rally that handed the Canadians a 58-53 loss.

“This was our game to win,” said a deflated Aubry after the game. “We could have beaten them, but we let it get away.”

The loss took some of the shine off Aubry’s big shot early in the game – the first point the Canadian team has scored since it was last at the Olympics in 2000.

“It was nice to get. We were a little back on our heels to start the game,” she said.

After Russia got off to a quick start, leading by eight points early in the first quarter, Canada’s defence seemed to shake off its nerves. Russia didn’t sink a single three point shot in the first half, while the Canadians responded with five of their own.

Key blocks in the first half by Guelph’s Natalie Achonwa in the Canadian end shut down the frustrated Russians, who looked lost at times to solve the Canadian defenders. Achonwa was a key play maker, getting physical under the net and recording three assists.

But the Russians started scoring when it counted, led by American-born Becky Hammon who scored 14, including eight down the stretch. Hammon, a six-time WNBA all-star, became a Russian naturalized citizen before the Beijing Games, helping Russia earn the bronze medal in 2008.

“We had it in our hands. Something we’re really good at, defence, we kind of lost track of a few players, and they punished us,” said Canada’s Kim Smith, who led the team with 20 points.

The loss stings because it showed holes in Canada’s strength – its defence – but the women will bounce back, the tall guard said.

“It’s going to hurt more,” Smith said. “But we’ll debrief, we’ll talk about this, and as soon as we get back to the village, this one is over. It’s a long tournament.”

Smith, Canada’s most offensive weapon, lived up to her billing. In Canada’s strong first half, she had three three-pointers as part of her 12-point effort before the break.

The Russians stayed calm late in the game and drew timely fouls from the Canadians when it really mattered, said head coach Allison McNeill.

“Russia showed their experience down the stretch,” she said.

No.11-ranked Canada came into the game as underdogs to the No. 3-ranked Russia. But they showed they can hold their own with the best in the world, she said.

“We know we’re a good team. The rest of the world might not know it yet,” Smith said “But we’re here and we’re ready to compete.”

Canada plays its second game at the Olympics on Monday against host Great Britain. That game goes at 3 p.m. ET. and will be broadcast on Sportsnet.

London throws a party

 

LONDON — With appearances from the Queen, James Bond, Mr. Bean and Paul McCartney, London kicked off the 2012 Summer Olympics in an epic Opening Ceremonies that were unashamedly British.

In a sweeping 90-minute artistic show that featured actual livestock, soccer-playing peasants, pyrotechnics, massive sets and even bigger casts, London’s organizers set a wildly entertaining stage for the athletes’ march into the Olympic Stadium.

Wedged in between Cameroon and Cape Verde, the Canadians were led in by an enthusiastic flag bearer Simon Whitfield, the triathlete who spent two weeks training in the Guelph area in the lead-up to London.

Canada’s athletes, decked out in red jackets and beige pants, were cheered lustily by the stadium crowd, but this was Britain’s night.

The cinematic three-hour Opening Ceremonies, created by Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, cost some $42 million — although that’s less than half the amount estimated to have been spent in China in 2008.

The show told the story of England’s evolution from its pastoral beginnings, through the Industrial Revolution, and into the modern era. It led the audience on a celebration of British pop culture, from the BBC and James Bond to the Beatles and David Bowie.

Watched by a live crowd of 65,000 and a TV audience thought to be more than a billion, it drew all eyes to an Olympic Village built in the run-down area of London’s East End.

Britain put seven years of work and $14 billion into these Games, a price tag some critics say was too high during one of the country’s worst recessions. But the overwhelming feeling among most Britons seems not to be weariness, but jubilation at hosting an estimated 11 million visitors expected over the next two weeks.

Massive crowds waited hours to get into the Olympic Village Friday, many waving flags and with faces painted in their country’s national colours. After all the hand-wringing, the construction headaches and the waiting, this seems like a city ready to party.

“London’s glory,” shouted the headline in one of the big tabloids here.

With the almost 7,000 athletes who will compete in the next two weeks are 277 Canadians, including about a dozen locals. Among them are two marathoners, Reid Coolsaet and Eric Gillis, two skinny Canadians trying to make history in an event long dominated by Africans.

The pair, two of the 110 entries for the Olympic marathon from 65 countries, have helped turn Guelph into a running hotbed, and both hope to finish in the top ten on Aug. 12.

In London for the Olympics, Canada’s Gov. Gen. David Johnson said he was pleased to see Canadians once again competing in what is likely the Olympics most grueling, endurance-testing event, all 42-plus kilometers of it.

“It’s wonderful to see the marathon again. It reminds us of the Games’ connection to ancient Greece,” he said.

England seems eager to celebrate, although these Games have not been without their bumps. More than a hundred athletes, although not all London-bound, have been caught by anti-doping drug tests in the lead up to the Olympics.

One medal hopeful, a Greek triple-jumper, has already been tossed from the Games for a racist comment posted on Twitter. And there was a last-minute scramble to bring in the British army to run security checkpoints when it was revealed the private security firm hired to do the job didn’t have enough people.

North Korea is still stinging, too, from an embarrassing mix-up earlier this week when Olympic organizers displayed the wrong flag – from rival South Korea – when introducing the country’s women’s soccer team.

Naysayers may complain that the Olympics are too commercial, and too expensive for the countries that go into massive debt to host them. But even the most casual sports fan can’t deny the national pride they inspire, causing us to jump on the bandwagon for two weeks every four years.

One of the most feel-good stories of these Games is that of the plucky Canadian women’s basketball team, back in the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Anchored by two locals, Kitchener’s Chelsea Aubry and Guelph’s Natalie Achonwa, the team is an underdog in the so-called “pool of death,” facing heavyweights like Russia, Australia and Brazil.

“We’re certainly not expected to win a medal. But we’re certainly going to try,” said the team’s coach, Allison McNeill, who has coached the veteran Aubry since day one on the national team.

The team, still riding the euphoria of their dramatic Olympic berth July 1, is sticking with its defense-focused game plan as it tries to topple giants.

“We don’t have five-ring fever. We’re not panicking or doing something new, and changing anything,” the coach said.

The team first test comes Saturday morning against a Russian squad that is among the biggest and allegedly toughest at the Olympics. When other teams were travelling the world playing exhibitions, the No. 3-ranked Russians stayed home, and played secretive games against men’s teams.

But McNeill says that’s not necessarily a sign the Russians have something up their sleeve. Canada’s women’s team used to do the same thing, often playing Kitchener’s Wild Hawks men’s team when no female competition could be found, she said.

That there’s a Canadian women’s basketball team and Canuck marathoners in the Olympics after a long absence speaks to what Canadian Olympic Committee president Marcel Abut called a “renaissance in Canadian sport.”

While China wonders aloud if it can top the 51 gold medals it claimed in the last Olympics, Canada’s performance at these Games would be “a tremendous success” if we were to finish in top 12 among medal counts, he said.

About half of the Canadians competing here are Olympic rookies, said chef de mission Mark Tewksbury. Among that group is Guelph’s Andrew Ford, Hilary Stellingwerff and Alex Genest and Cambridge’s Victoria Moors.

Those first-timers will inject new blood into an Olympic team that includes veterans like Cambridge’s Nate Brannen, the four-time Olympian Whitfield and equestrian’s Ian Miller, appearing in his tenth Games.

“With that kind of mix of experience and energy anything can happen,” Tewksbury said.

gmercer@therecord.com

Basketball, swimming and gymnastics up first

The women's basketball team will try to keep the momentum after their Olympic berth on July 1. File photo

LONDON – Here’s a look at the competition schedule for Waterloo Region and area Olympians this weekend.

Saturday, July 28:

Basketball

Canada’s women’s Olympic basketball team left the Opening Ceremonies early Friday night to rest up for Saturday morning’s clash with the Russians. That game, their first in London, will be shown at 6 a.m. ET on CTV.

Although the Canadians, who include Kitchener’s Chelsea Aubry and Guelph’s Natalie Achonwa, beat the tough Czech Republic in a friendly scrimmage on Thursday, they haven’t played a real game since July 1, when they earned their Olympic berth.

The Canadians aren’t expected to win any medals in these Games, but they’re hoping to upset some heavyweights, starting with the big, strong Russian squad, ranked No. 3 in the world.

Swimming

Stratford’s Julia Wilkinson will get one of her team events out of the way early, racing in the 4x100 freestyle relay on Saturday. She’ll compete in a round of heats that begin at 7:10 a.m. ET. If her team makes the finals, those races will be shown on CTV at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Sunday, July 29:

Gymnastics

Cambridge’s Victoria Moors, nursing two small tears in her back, will try to help lift the Canadian artistic gymnastics team past the qualifying round Sunday. Those events will be shown throughout the day on Sportsnet TV, starting at 6 a.m. ET.

Even if the team doesn’t advance out of this round, gymnasts can still make it into individual events next week.

Swimming

Julia Wilkinson will compete again Sunday, this time in her strong suit, the 100-metre backstroke races, with heats shown on CTV starting at 6 a.m. ET . The semi-finals will be broadcast on the same network later Sunday, starting at 2:30 p.m.

Wilkinson is expected to make the final in the 100-metre event and thinks a medal is within reach, so not making it past Sunday’s stage would be a deep disappointment.

Moors a giant on gymnastic floor

LONDON – Victoria Moors may be youngest Canadian on the Olympic team, and one of the smallest athletes walking around inside the Olympic Park.

But when it comes to gymnastics’ floor event, the 15-year-old Cambridge teen is Canada’s giant at these Games.

It’s fitting that Moors uses the song The Assassin’s Tango in her powerful floor routine, a highly difficult performance she’s been perfecting for three years in meets around the world. When she’s on, she kills the competition.

“Other gymnasts had (that song) before, and I just started using it and I put my own twist on it,” she said. “It’s just one of those songs that makes your heart drop.”

A choreographer customized the song for Moors, exaggerating its quiet and dramatic moments while her coach Elvira Saadi polished the performance. Since the teenager started doing the routine, she’s been pretty much undefeated in Canada in floor.

Her other strong suit is gymnastics’ vault, an event where gymnasts sprint down a runway, hurtle themselves onto a springboard and launch a vault into the air. Moors specializes in a challenging double Yurchenko twisting vault, a risk-prone manoeuvre that forced Canada’s Peng Peng Lee out of these Games.

Moors won in both events at the Olympic trials, and they’re a big part of the reason she comes into these Games ranked fourth overall in the world, according to the international gymnastics federation FIG.

The gymnast, who started in the sport at the Cambridge Kips club as a child, is thought to be good enough to make the podium in London. That is, as long as she’s healthy.

She revealed Thursday she’s nursing a bit of a back injury that is causing discomfort in her workouts. But the problem won’t affect her first appearance at the Olympics, she insisted.

“I have two tears in my back, but they’re small,” she said. “It’s nothing, it’s fine.”

On Thursday, Moors and the rest of the Canadian artistic gymnastics team practiced inside the massive North Greenwich Arena on the edge of the River Thames. Although the competition area was bathed in the pink and purple of the Games’ official colours, it was a familiar scene.

It was here back in January during the Olympic test event that Moors and her teammate Madeline Gardiner from Hespeler’s Dynamo Gymnastics helped Canada earn an Olympic berth. Gardiner, 17, was chosen as an alternate for the Olympics and will only compete if one of the starting five gymnasts are injured.

Moors admits it’s a little overwhelming being the youngest Canadian competitor in London, but says she’s trying to not be fazed by it.

“It’s weird, because people are older and I’m just 15 . . . But at the end of the day, I’m just another athlete here,” she said.

It’s also a little unusual being a tiny gymnast in the Athletes Village, surrounded by towering basketball players and hulking rowers, she admitted.

“Usually when I go to competitions, everyone is just a gymnast. But you look at somebody and they’re like eight feet tall, (you know) they’re not a gymnast,’” she said.

Moors will compete with the rest of the Canadian team on Sunday in gymnastics’ qualification round. If she makes it through, competition could continue until Aug. 7.