Canadian gymnasts win gold and bronze at World Cup meet in Slovenia
Canadian gymnasts win gold and bronze at World Cup meet in Slovenia
April 27, 2013
LUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Ellie Black of Halifax (Alta) won gold on women’s vault and Scott Morgan of Vancouver, (Flicka) took the bronze in the men’s floor exercise on Saturday at a 28-country World Cup gymnastics meet.
Black, who burst on the international scene last year with double victories at her first World Cup meet and went on to play a key role with Canada’s Olympic team, scored 14.337 for her two vaults, easily topping the eight-woman final.
Kirsten Beckett of South Africa placed second with 14.162 points and Phan Thi Ha Thanh of Vietnam was third at 14.050.
Black, who qualified for all four women’s finals on Friday, placed fifth on uneven bars.
Black’s victory extended her World Cup medal winning streak to three straight competitions, with a chance for two more medals on Sunday when she competes again in the balance beam and floor finals.
Morgan, one of Canada’s top hopes on a rebuilding men’s team was elated with his bronze medal -- his first on the World Cup circuit -- in the floor final.
Eleftherious Kosmidis of Greece, the 2010 world champion on floor won the gold with a score of 15.125 points followed by Alexander Naddour of the United States with 15.075 and Morgan at 15.050.
I couldn’t have asked for much more,” said Morgan, who has added new elements to his floor routine with a higher degree of difficulty since last year.
“It’s still a new routine and to do that well in a such a strong field was pretty cool, it really gives me a big boost.”
In the rings final Morgan said he was hoping for a higher score but came away satisfied with his fifth-place finish.
“I thought I had a pretty good routine but they scored it pretty harshly. It was a difficult field and I wasn’t unhappy with the performance. It’s one of the more difficult routines out there and I’m just going to keep working on the consistency.”
Rounding out the Canadian results Victoria-Kayen Woo of La Prairie, Que., (Gym-Richelieu) placed seventh in the women’s uneven bars event.
Meanwhile at a World Cup rhythmic gymnastics event in Pesaro, Italy, Patricia Bezzoubenko of Toronto placed 15th in the all around event in a field of 54 competitors.
