Rideau Gymnastics men fly to top at hometown provincials

By William Bailey

Oliver Fong became a back-to-back-to-back provincial champ and two clubmates joined him on the all-around podium as the Rideau Gymnastics men flexed their muscles on the opening day of the Ontario Artistic Gymnastics Championships Thursday at the EY Centre.

Fong finished within the top-4 on every apparatus in the men’s Provincial Level 3 under-13 competition, including wins on rings and high bar.

First introduced to gymnastics when he was 18 months old because his parents worried that he’d started walking late, Fong has now earned three consecutive Ontario titles following his victories in the Provincial 2 U13 and P1 Age 10 divisions in 2023 and 2022.

“He isn’t afraid of the moment,” signals Rideau men’s head coach Yevgeny Molyev. “You can tell that he takes his training very seriously and is very composed in these situations.

“He’s a fantastic athlete and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

There were many flashes of Rideau red and black during the men’s awards ceremonies.

Ivan Baranov won the vault, was second on high bar and third on parallel bars en route to an all-around bronze medal in the P2 U13 division.

Kazuya Coles earned event medals of every colour as well. He won floor and took second on parallel bars and third on high bar, for all-around silver in P2 Age 13-15.

Owen Thomas also finished fourth all-around in P3, Age 13-15, with a silver medal for pommel horse.

That gave Rideau podium performances in all four of the U13 and Age 13-15 men’s divisions contested on the first day of the championships – a significant show of force for the emergent club, which opened in Kanata in 2017.

“We have a lot of talent here,” highlights Molyev, who arrived from Ukraine shortly after Russia invaded.

“It’s not easy to be able to compete at a high level on this stage, so for our guys to be rewarded for their hard work is fantastic,” he added. “This was a great effort from our club.”

Listen to CBC Ottawa Morning’s April 2023 feature: “Ukrainian coaching helps local gymnasts win big”

Other local athletes hitting the podium in men’s events on Thursday were Louis Ruest from Tumblers Gymnastics Centre and Rideau’s Ilya Baranov in the P3, Age 13-15 category, Ottawa Gymnastics Centre’s Sam Levac (P3, Age 16+) and Rideau’s Edrick Yong (P2, Age 13-15).

Molyev was appreciative of having the opportunity to compete in the championships in town.

“It means a lot to us,” he underlines. “It’s been amazing to see the community come together with the help of all the volunteers to make this possible and to see all the kids take in this experience with their families showing their support. It’s great to see.”

On the women’s side, Annika Magneron of TRYumph Gymnastics Academy clinched a Canadian Championships berth with her all-around silver medal performance in the Level 9, Age 15+ division.

The Grade 10 Louis-Riel high school student won the balance beam event and came within .117 points of the all-around title.

Magneron’s total score of 37.133 – second-best out of competitors in all three L9 categories – ensured her place on Team Ontario for the June 2-9 nationals, which will be held in Gatineau.

“We don’t like putting pressure on our athletes, but we knew that Annika had it in her,” smiles TRYumph head coach Alina Florea. “She works really hard to become better and better every day, and the results showed. She’s truly special.”

Olivia Coe claimed an all-around title for the host Ottawa Gymnastics Centre in a very tight L8 2009+ division.

Coe’s win in the balance beam event was crucial as she scored a total of 37.433 points to earn the all-around crown by just .049 over the second-place athlete from London.

That was actually a larger margin of victory than when she won the L7 Age 15+ division by .032 points last year.

Read More: Long wait ultimately leads to provincial titles for Ottawa gymnastics pair

Several other local athletes earned medals in individual events.

OGC’s Molly Belanger was tops in vault for the L9 B session featuring athletes born in 2008 and 2009, while OGC’s Addison Graham finished third on vault in the L9 session for athletes born between 2010 and 2012.

Hannah Mankal (L8 2009+) won vault gold and Corona teammate Mia Vega (L6 2010) earned floor gold, while Tumblers’ Lilly-Rose Anderson (L6, 2010) took beam silver.

Friday’s provincials schedule features the top athletes competing for Canadian Championships berths on both the women’s side (L10) and men’s (junior and senior).

Read More: 1,200 gymnasts set to flood EY Centre for Ontario Championships