Gardiner was gymnastics team's loudest cherleader

Madeline Gardiner of Cambridge was as an alternate for the Olympic gymnastics team. Record file photo

LONDON — What do you wear to watch gymnastics at the Olympics, when you could be pulled out of the stands at any moment and told to compete?

That’s the tough question Madeline Gardiner faced at the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The 17-year-old Galt Collegiate student was chosen as one of two alternates for Canada’s five-person artistic gymnastics team, meaning she went to London ready to get called in at any moment.

Ultimately, Canada’s five Olympic gymnasts — Gardiner’s Dynamo Gymnastics club mate Victoria Moors, plus Elisabeth Black, Dominique Pegg, Kristina Vaculik and Brittany Rogers — were able to compete, so Gardiner wasn’t called upon.

Instead, Gardiner became the team’s loudest supporter in the stands at the North Greenwich Arena. She and fellow alternate Jessica Savona of Oakville waved Canadian flags and basically cheered themselves hoarse watching their teammates compete their way to a first-ever team final, where Canada placed fifth.

“I have no voice right now. It hurts to talk. We were screaming as loud as we could,” she said. “I’m so proud of how they did. It was nerve-wracking just watching, but they did absolutely amazing.”

It was Gardiner’s work that helped Canada qualify a full team for the Olympics. She was a part of the team that competed at the London Prepares series in January, where she had scores of 13.500 on uneven bars, 14.133 on balance beam, and 13.300 on floor. She went on to place fourth in the balance beam final, with a score of 14.266.

After making it to a final Olympic selection camp in June that would whittle 12 hopefuls — who also included Cambridge’s Mikaela Gerber — down to the final five, Gardiner was picked as a backup.

She admits it was a little strange being a spectator in London, knowing she might be called in to compete — something that has happened before in recent Olympics.

“I didn’t really know the rules of being an alternate. ‘Do I do my hair like I’m going to compete? Do I bring my stuff?’ I think I ended up bringing all my stuff,” said Gardiner, who was joined at the Games by her mother Vanda and father Peter.

It was especially tough watching when she would have preferred to be competing, she said. But the gymnast was gracious on that point, saying Gymnastics Canada chose their Olympic team well.

“It was definitely hard because I really wanted to be down there with them. But I’m really proud of how they did. I know that they made the right choice,” she said.

When she gets back to Cambridge, Gardiner has one more year of high school and plans to continue competing.

Gymnastics, she said, will continue to be a big part of her future. That’s especially so after these Games, where she was one really, really loud witness to a watershed moment for Canadian gymnastics.

“We’re coming up,” she said. “We made history at these Olympics, and I think a lot more people will know about us now. I think it’ll become a lot more popular sport now.”

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