Athlete Profiles

Highlights

Emma Willis Earns Two Bronze Medals at International de Gymnix

Click here for Bronze Medal Floor Performance

Dominique Pegg wins Three Medals at the Canada Winter Games

Dominique Pegg Strikes Yukon Gold

Pegg Wins the allaround title at the 2007 Canada Winter games in Whitehorse.

Pegg Strikes Gold in the Event Finals

Pegg is a member of the Ontario brnze medal team.

See the "Featured Athlete Section" for more details, and "Photo Gallery" for Canada Winter Games Photos

Dominique is Golden in the Yukon

From the "Yukon News".

Ontario, BC give superhuman performances to grab gymnastics gold Monday, March 12, 2007

By Leighann Chalykoff News Reporter

Dominique Pegg moved faster than a speeding bullet. She looked stronger than steel.Wearing a bright red leotard with white swooshes across the chest, the 13-year-old gymnast hurled her body around the top pole of the uneven bars carving graceful arcs through the air.After building momentum, Pegg released her grip on the bar, twisting and spinning through the air before nailing her landing in the women’s singles event on Friday afternoon."She made it look easy".The performance earned her fifth place in the uneven bar event, but a stellar leap off the vault earlier in the day earned the young athlete a gold medal."Feels really good, I’m pretty proud," said Pegg, who was wearing her bling after the competition. At 4-7, Pegg stands more than a few inches shorter than all the other gymnasts, but her stature may be an advantage in this demanding sport. "I just did my best and it feels really good."Pegg, who also grabbed gold on Thursday in the all-around competition, started gymnastics when she was two, following in the footsteps of her older brother."I did everything that he did," she said with a laugh. But then her brother quit, and she kept training hard. Now the Ontarian has her eyes on the World Championships and the Olympics — although Pegg will be too young to compete in the 2008 games. The Olympics has an age limit. Gone are the days of the pre-teen girls excelling on the world stage. Competitors must be at least 16 to compete. But the athletes aren’t retiring young either."There’s no age limit, not anymore," said sport officer Grace Chiu. "It’s not like it was in the ‘80s, when you were done when you were 18."German gymnast Oksana Chusovitina has enjoyed a career spanning 20 years. She earned bronze in the 2006 Worlds at age 30, said Chiu. While Ontario was tops on the vault, BC won medals in the other three singles events. A blue-suited Brittany Rogers grabbed double gold in the bars and the beam. "My parents always told me that when I was born I did a back-flip out of my mom’s stomach, so they thought I should join gymnastics," said the 13-year-old athlete from Port Coquitlam, BC. She now has her sights set on the World Championships and the Olympics. "It was very exciting, I’m very happy about my accomplishments," she said of her double-gold performance. She had a vague idea she’d done well in her bars routine. "The beginning was pretty iffy, but nailing the landing was just a big thrill to me," she said. And Rogers’ teammate Alycia Chan performed a creative tumbling routine that earned her gold in the floor competition. "I just wanted to try my best and go for it all, and I got what I wanted," said the 17-year-old from Langley, BC.She started in gymnastics 15 years ago. Her parents put her in the sport because she was "rolling all around the house." Chan’s golden routine had been the talk of the athletes’ village over the past few days. In her off-time, Chan was teaching the routine to a few of the local gymnasts between meals at the kitchen. Although Yukon’s team didn’t make it to the finals, a few of the local gymnasts were up in the stands cheering and watching the other athletes vie for their places on the podium."It’s really motivational — it makes me want to do so much better," said Yukon gymnast Sierra Palamar while watching the finals from the stands on Friday." They’re all super good and they’re all really nice — we made friends with them.""It’s really inspiring; I saw a lot of skills I want to work on," said Aletta Leitch, who was sitting beside Palamar. Leitch placed 32nd in a field of 36 in the all-around competition on Thursday."I did the best I could do," said Leitch of the tough competition."It was my best performance of the year by far," added Palamar, who placed 29th."My favourite event was beam because I actually stayed on the beam," she added with a laugh.

Willis wins Two Bronze Medals

Emma Willis wins Bronze medal at the 2007 International Gymnix.

Emma Willis was the Bronze Medalist in the Floor exercise at the "2007 International de Gymnix". After winning a Team Bronze Medal and placing 9th in the all-around, Willis "rose to the occasion" and delivered a "world level performance" up against a strong international field. Top representatives from five countries attended the International Gymnix including, top athlete’s from Belgium, Holland, Canada, USA and Russia.

The top eight gymnasts per event from day one qualify for the event finals. Emma was one of three "Canadian Seniors" who qualified. "It was an excellent final and a lot of Gymnasts performed well." said Coach Elizabeth Brubaker. "It was hard to watch the last few routines because I had a feeling that Emma was going to medal but the outcome is out of her hands once she has completed her performance." "I knew that her performance was a personal best and we were really hoping to hang on to a medal position."

"The Caliber of the competition was very high and it was a sweet experience. This was an excellent opportunity for Emma. Her performance in the Final meant a lot because the girls must always prove there value to the team and it counts most when they are under this type of pressure. This achievement is excellent and in the wake of Dominique Pegg’s recent Canada Games victory it really bodes well for our Coaching Staff and the Bluewater Gymnastics Club."

Willis also qualified third for the Balance Beam final, but literally "slipped" out of Medal contention, after faltering in the final. "My beam was shaky all week" said Willis, "and I tried to do my best job for the team". "I was pleased to find myself qualifying in third in such an excellent field of competitors. I just had a mental lapse during my routine in the finals, "it happens" giggled Willis, This was really only my second competition this year since I injured my finger in November, during Trophee Massilia in France, so I am very happy with my progress. I have a lot of work to do and it will be much easier now."

Video of Emma's Floor Routine

Dominique Pegg Qualifies for Canada Games

Dominique Pegg Qualifies for the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse

Dominique Pegg, age 13, a Sarnia resident and a student at St. Anne’s school, will be competing as a member of the "Gymnastics Ontario" team next week in Whitehorse, at the Canada Winter Games.

Dominque was second overall after the qualifying process which was completed back in December and has recently completed a series of preparation camps along with the other Ontario team members from Niagara Falls, Oshawa, and the Burlington area. Dominique was one of se4ven athletes who qualified in Ontario from a large field of competitors ranging in age from 11-19.

The Multi Sport Games opened last week in Whitehorse and the events of the games are divided into two one-week segments. Gymnastics will take place during week two.

Bluewater Gymnastics head coach Dave Brubaker, has also been selected as a team coach for this event. Dave will join one of his former co-workers Kathleen Hubbard, from Burlington. They worked together from 2000-2002 at the Burlington Gymnastics Club. "I am really looking forward to the games", said Brubaker, "our last experience with this event was in 1991 in P.E.I. when Bluewater athlete Sarah Rainey won the all-around competition, was a member of the gold medal team, and she won a few individual event medals in the apparatus finals."

"Dominique is definitely a contender for the all-around," says Brubaker, "but both Dominique and team Ontario will face stiff competition from Quebec and British Columbia."

"My main goal is to stay warm in the -35 degree temperatures," giggled Pegg, "and make our best performances for the team, qualify for the all-around competition and the apparatus finals. I have to just take it one day at a time and enjoy the experience."

"With a young gymnast like this, with a very bright competitive future, the goal has to be on gaining valuable competitive experience. If the top results are an outcome of this process, that is just a bonus," said Brubaker.

Emma Willis and Elizabeth Brubaker will avoid the freezing temperatures as they head south to Houston to attend Bela Karoli’s Ranch where Canadian Team members will take part in a training camp and International Competition between Canada, USA and Mexico. This event is the first of a series to prepare the Senior National Team for the upcoming Pan American Games in Brazil as well as the World Championships next fall. Recently Willis was named to the pool of athletes and is being considered for both teams which are an important part of the qualification process for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Abby Pearson Emma Willis and Melanie Rocca

Bluewater's Melanie Rocca featured in the Gymn.ca Bringing Gymnastics to the World Website

Bluewater's Abby Pearson featured in the Gymn.ca Bringing Gymnastics to the World Website

Bluewater's Emma Willis featured in the Gymn.ca Bringing Gymnatics to the World Website

You Tube Videos of Bluewater Athletes