ItSA国际影视传媒檚 been three years since the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club has had anyone traversing around the country to compete in anything.

So imagine how good it must have felt for four athletes from the club to get back to doing what they do best late last month. One of them even came home with a new accessory.

Tai Leathem was that lucky gymnast as he scored a bronze medal on the vault at the Western Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Winnipeg. Leathem, competing in boys Provincial Level 4, scored 12.150 on his one and only attempt, a mere 0.5 away from gold and .05 away from silver.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was a pretty tight squeeze for third,SA国际影视传媒� said Leathem. SA国际影视传媒淚t was the landing that was the difference. My step was a little too big SA国际影视传媒� a smaller step and we could be talking about something better.SA国际影视传媒�

The other gymnasts who made the trip were Emma Leathem, TaiSA国际影视传媒檚 sister and the only female; Zefer Jordison; and Shea Escalante. The other two boys competed in the same division as Tai while his sister was in Canadian Competitive Program 9.

Going into the meet, Tai said he was nervous because he had taken some time off from the sport to focus on school.

SA国际影视传媒淚 had about six months to train and get back into it (before Winnipeg) and, yeah, I was nervous,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚 wanted to do really well and I trained as hard as I could. I got some new skills and it paid off for me. I wasnSA国际影视传媒檛 there to win a medal SA国际影视传媒� I wanted to go and have fun SA国际影视传媒� but I did and ISA国际影视传媒檓 really proud.SA国际影视传媒�

TaiSA国际影视传媒檚 vault was a Tsuk layout, named after Japanese gymnast Mitsuo Tsukahara. It involves a gymnast performing a quarter-turn on the horse and transitioning into a layout flip.

He watched his competition carefully as they took their turns.

SA国际影视传媒淚 was looking at the other guys and thinking pretty good, pretty good and I was thinking I was somewhere near the middle of the pack,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚 didnSA国际影视传媒檛 know I was that close.SA国际影视传媒�

The result was music to the ears of coach Jose Esteban, who said having a medallist from the NWT shows that missing competitions due to Covid-19 didnSA国际影视传媒檛 affect too much.

SA国际影视传媒淲e talked with the boys before (the competition) and we talked about what our goals were,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 great that athletes from communities like ours can get a medal like that against the big provinces like Alberta and B.C. They brought down teams of 12 and we had three boys and one girl. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 nice to show off what we have here.SA国际影视传媒�

Was there any worry about the gymnasts being out of shape competitively? Esteban said maybe a little, but nothing a bit of extra work couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 fix.

SA国际影视传媒淭hese kids are great to coach and theySA国际影视传媒檙e like sponges,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淎nything we say, they just focus in and hone in on it and try to improve. Training for Westerns this year, they really zoned in and pushed themselves and outdid themselves, I think.SA国际影视传媒�