The waiting game lasted all of 24 hours.Â
After junior UCLA gymnast Kate Richardson failed to secure
herself an outright spot on this summer’s Canadian Olympic
squad at the Olympic Team Trials held at Seneca College in Toronto
this past weekend, Gymnastics Canada announced late Sunday night
that Richardson was selected as the fifth member of the Canadian
Olympic Team.
A junior this fall, Richardson becomes the first Bruin to make
an Olympic team while competing for UCLA.
Her trip to Athens will mark the second straight Olympiad she
has competed in.
Richardson attempted to punch her automatic ticket to Athens at
the Olympic Team Trials, held at Seneca College in Toronto this
past weekend, but a fourth place finish temporarily put her plans
on hold.
Richardson started the meet off on a bad foot, and never could
quite find a good rhythm during the two-day event.
In her first routine of the competition, Richardson fell twice
off the beam, and garnered an 8.15, one of the lowest scores
recorded at the meet.
Richardson bounced back on the floor exercise, vault, and bars,
scoring a 9.35, 9.25, and 9.225, respectively.
Thanks to the three solid routines, Richardson found herself in
the thick of things with a 35.975 all-around score, good enough for
a fifth-place standing after the first day of competition at the
Olympic Trials..
Unlike Saturday’s tumultuous start, Richardson appeared to
be in dominant form to begin the second day of competition, as she
scored an impressive 9.5 on the dreaded beam.Â
But Richardson diverged from the previous days’ concrete
scores on the floor, vault and bars.Â
After her promising 9.5, Richardson could only muster low
9’s on the three events, resulting in a second day all-around
score of 36.7.
Richardson finished with a fourth place finish and a 72.675
cumulative score at the trials.
Unfortunately for Richardson, the four automatic Olympic berths
are based upon the cumulative score from the Olympic Trials along
with cumulative scores from last months Canadian National
Championships, where Richard could only manage a 5th place showing,
thereby causing her to just miss the cut for an automatic Olympic
berth.
Canadian Olympic officials  announced late Sunday night she
was selected as one of the two wild card gymnasts who will be
invited to fill out the six-woman team.Â
At least one person already saw it coming.
“I think Kate will absolutely make the Olympic team,
barring an injury,” said UCLA coach Valorie Kondos Field
prior to the announcement. “Kate brings the confidence and
fun that the Canadian federation is looking for. She’s the
crown jewel up there in Canada.”
There are indeed good reasons for the Canadian officials to
extend an offer to Richardson ““ primarily because of her
success at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
“I think I could bring experience to this team,”
said Richardson before the announcement. “I’ve been
able to compete internationally before and I’ve learned a lot
of mental toughness from it.”
“I won’t be a deer caught in the headlights. I know
what to expect,” she added.
At the 2000 summer games, Richardson finished 15th in the
all-around, the highest placing ever for a Canadian gymnast at the
Olympics.
When Richardson goes to the Olympics again this summer, she
hopes to have a better outing this time around.
“I would hope to improve on my Olympic placing,”
Richardson said. “That’s definitely a goal for
me.”
Knowing the 2004 Olympic Games would probably represent her last
hoorah in gymnastics, Richardson’s making the team caps off
one of the richest careers ever enjoyed by a Canadian gymnast.
“2008 (the next Olympics after 2004) isn’t an option
for me,” Richardson said. “My body won’t hold up
for that long. It’s already starting to feel the
age.”
But now she has mad the team, another goal certainty exists.
“I’ll take in the whole Olympic experience this
time. I don’t think I fully appreciated it the first
time.”