Local gymnast excels at Eastern Canada championships

By Ron Giofu

A local youth has jumped her way into several medals at a prestigious competition recently.

Sophie French competed in the Eastern Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec earlier in the spring and came back with several medals. She won a pair of silver medals for Team Ontario for trampoline and double-mini trampoline and won gold in trampoline synchro.

French, who trains out of Rose City Gymnastics in Windsor, was not only among the top four on trampoline in the province, she was paired with a competitor she had never worked with before en route to the trampoline synchro gold medal.

French’s mother Kelly said judges pick two competitors that finished in the top ten the day before and paired them randomly to compete in that event. She was matched with a gymnast from Quebec with both overcoming a language barrier to capture the medal.

“They never met before and they had to compete in synchro,” said Kelly. “They were completely in synch. It was neat to watch two people who had never met before.”

French said she was happy to come home with a group of medals. She was also in a three-way tie for bronze in another double-mini event.

“It feels awesome,” the 13-year-old Amherstburg resident said.

French trains four days per week, 2.5 hours per day all year. She hopes to move up to national competitions next year, after her excellent performance at the Eastern Canadian Gymnastics Championships.

“I have fun with friends while we still work hard,” said French. “It’s fun to get new skills.”

Her transition from artistic gymnastics to the trampoline has not even been a year yet, as Kelly pointed out that will not occur until the end of August.

French has been competing in gymnastics since she was 18-months-old.

“She started in parent and tot and didn’t want to stop afterward,” said Kelly.