Denelle Pedrick won a bronze medal at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships last month in Liverpool. Pedrick grew up in Saskatchewan, training in Regina and Saskatoon.
“It was obviously extremely unexpected,” said Pedrick after winning the bronze medal for Canada in the women’s team event.
Canada has never been on the podium in the women’s team event at the World Championships.
AN OVERWHELMING VICTORY
The group of five gymnasts had just advanced to the team final after the preliminary round, taking eighth and last place.
“Obviously [we] wanting to do our best but that was not our mindset at all [to medal]. We entered the competition in eighth and we joked among ourselves ‘They can’t put us ninth, we can’t be worse than eighth [this time]“,” laughed Pedrick.
“All we can do is enjoy our gymnastics and do our best.”
It was an emotional and unexpected moment for the women when they realized they had won a medal.
“We were very focused on our team, watching and encouraging each other. We weren’t really sure what was going on in the rest of the arena. You see a routine here and there, but you don’t really know the scores or what’s going on,” Pedrick described.
“We had the beam, which was our last event and our main focus for the day was to get all of our routines done… We had two [good] routines and only Ellie was left. Who better to anchor your line-up than Ellie Black?
Black is a three-time Olympian who has been a fixture in Canadian women’s gymnastics for over a decade.
Black helped Canada advance to the team final for the first time in history at the London 2012 Olympics.
In 2017, Black became the first Canadian gymnast to win a world all-around medal.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Black finished fourth on balance beam, a best-ever result in artistic gymnastics for Canada.
Black also won a silver medal on balance beam at this year’s world championships.
“I already knew her [Ellie] was going to hit [her routine], that was just going to be how good it was. She finished and we were so happy, so happy to be there… We had no idea of the ranking. I was kind of looking at the leaderboard because I hadn’t competed on beam, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool, I think we’re going to finish in the top five,’ Pedrick laughed.
“Then I looked up and saw our men’s team [in the crowd] and they were all like freaked out, and then we looked around and everyone was looking at us and I was like, ‘I think maybe we got third place. » »
Pedrick said Black didn’t believe her at first and had to check the scores before she and the team could hope.
When they finally announced it, Pedrick described the moment as overwhelming and tear-filled as the team jumped up and down.
“It was kind of a roller coaster because it had never happened before,” she said.
ROOTS IN SASKATCHEWAN
This incredible moment took years of training and a big comeback to the sport for Pedrick, who grew up in Manitoba in her early years before moving to Saskatchewan when she was in elementary school.
“I started doing more recreational gymnastics [after beginning in Manitoba] in Regina and one of the coaches saw that my twin sister and I had potential, so we tried out for the competition,” she said.
“I was very fearless when I was a kid, I really wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Pedrick said her fearless antics caught the eye of her gym’s national trainer at the time and she continued to train at a high level at a young age.
By her early teens, Pedrick had outgrown her gym and moved to Gymnastics Adventure – another gym located in Regina.
The new gymnasium had more girls of her age and level in the sport. Pedrick trained there for a few years, then moved to Marian Gymnastics in Saskatoon.
Even though Pedrick was educated in Saskatoon, she was still enrolled at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox throughout her high school years.
However, during his senior year of high school, Pedrick took a step back from the sport due to injuries.
“I was committed to a school in the United States probably in 10th or 11th grade, then I had a big injury and they gave up my scholarship and gave it to someone else,” Pedrick explained.
“I thought, ‘I guess that’s too big an injury to come back to. Maybe I shouldn’t do gymnastics anymore.’ But I kept going, and then my 12th year at nationals, which feels like the very end of the school year, I was recruited from central Michigan.
Pedrick was offered a full ride in central Michigan and competed there for four years. However, his last college career was cut short early by the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘UNFINISHED’
At that time, Pedrick thought his career as a gymnast was finally over. She returned home in April 2020, back in Saskatchewan. After a few months, she felt the need to get back into the sport.
“Something inside me was like ‘I feel like I have an unfinished job in gymnastics’. I wasn’t doing any training at the time. I decided I still wanted to try to make the team. national,” she said.
Pedrick then called David Kikuchi, Ellie Black’s Halifax-based trainer, to ask if she could come and train. He happily accepted.
After a five and a half month hiatus, Pedrick was back and this time training alongside Canada’s top female gymnast. However, life looked different as the two were competing and training during the pandemic.
“We did a year and a half of virtual competitions, that was the whole 2021 season,” she explained.
Pedrick said Black has been a great friend and mentor in the sport since joining the gym and the veteran even gave her advice once they both landed the 2022 World Team.
” It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be tough at first, but once you get to the worlds and compete, you’ll realize it’s all paid off,” Black told Pedrick.
The two train over 25 hours a week with added weights and conditioning.
“She is a fantastic young woman. Such a great ambassador for the sport. She just has this drive that’s just natural,” Pedrick’s former coach Patricia Greenley said of the young gymnast.
“She’s very goal-oriented so I’m glad she carried on and was able to have such an amazing opportunity. [making the team].”
FOR THE FUTURE
The bronze medal wasn’t the only exciting piece the team left the 2022 Championships with.
The team’s third-place finish also automatically earned them a team birth at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It’s the first time Canada has qualified two years early.
“It was really exciting for us because we had planned to use this Worlds almost as a preparation for next year,” explained Pedrick. “So we were aiming for next year, but having done it a year ahead is really exciting and it takes the pressure off next year. We can kind of work on a few new things and take a few risks. additional.
For Pedrick, the next two years will be spent trying to earn a spot on that 2024 team.
“It’s going to be a chore for sure. It’s always the hardest year leading up to the Olympics because everyone is pushing for this team,” she said.
“For me, my main focus will be jumping. It’s my best event and it’s kind of what got me into the national team [this year] in the first place.
However, Pedrick also made a name for himself, quite literally, at another sporting event.
The 23-year-old has created a skill on the uneven bars. She participated in her newly formed transition from high bar to low bar at an international competition.
Since she was the first to perform the skill, the move is now referred to as “Pedrick” in the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) point code.
“I guess I’ve realized the potential that I have and I guess it’s taken this big year of every[thing] kind of coming together to fulfill my potential,” Pedrick said.
“I loved being part of the Worlds team and hopefully the Olympics.”
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