Three years ago, Toronto’s Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs made history as the first female Canadian to win a medal at the World Championships. In recent years, this country’s medal hopes had rested on Olympians such as Stella Umeh, Yvonne Tousek and Kate Richardson, but it wasn’t until 2006 that a Canadian gymnast stood proudly on the most prestigious podium of all. Only seasoned competitors Irina Krasnyanska (UKR) and Sandra Izbasa (ROM) scored higher than Elyse’s 15.475 on the balance beam.

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Gymbyte and I have just returned from L’International Gymnix 2009, and it was an amazing weekend in Montreal! This was the inaugural year as a World Cup event and it was a great success, especially on the men’s side where many of the world’s top competitors were present.

The Junior Cup portion of the competition included female gymnasts from Canada, France, Russia and the USA. The International Cup female competitors competed alongside the juniors, with gymnasts representing Canada, Australia, USA, France and Peru.

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The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. –writer Emile Zola

Hard work made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win. –gymnast Nadia Comaneci

Gymnasts and gym fans alike know the amount of intense training it takes to reach the top. Starting from a young age, gymnasts learn the discipline that is required to put their bodies through hours of rigorous training each day.

Fans from around the world have produced some amazing training montages over the years, but there are a few in particular I’d like to point out. The first is a fantastic one I came across called Training Emotions. I like it because it covers a wide variety of skills, gymnasts and eras, and I enjoy the dramatic music too!

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