Briana Shymanski/Rocky View Publishing

Corissa Boychuk displays the gold medal she won at the 2011 Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships in Birmingham, England, Nov. 17-20. Boychuk was part of the women's double mini trampoline team, which won Canada's first gold medal in the team event.

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Local gymnast wins second World gold medal

Airdrie gymnast Corissa Boychuk added another award to her trophy case after winning gold at the 2011 Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships in Birmingham, England, Nov. 17-20.

Boychuk was part of the women’s double mini trampoline team that brought home Canada’s first gold medal in the women’s event since Canada began competing at Worlds in 1972. She said the win was made even sweeter after a gold medal finish by the men’s team and a first-ever double gold medal for Canada.

“The team final was really fun,” said Boychuk. “It was very exciting to be part of the first Team Canada women’s team to win the event. The men’s team also won, so to stand alongside our boys was really neat.

“Our scores were so good, as the women, that we would’ve placed second in the boys competition. We were joking that the only team in the world who beat us is our own boys, so that was pretty cool.”

It was Boychuk’s third Worlds’ appearance and her second time participating in the team final. The first was in Russia in 2009. This year, Boychuk was the last to go in the final and her improvised pass sealed the gold for Canada.

“I prepared a high difficulty routine, so it was exciting and nerve wracking,” she said. “I was at the end, and the two other girls (Gillian Bruce and Mariah Madigan) nailed their passes, which makes the pressure even higher. When (Madigan) nailed her pass, I had a rush of goosebumps.

“I didn’t end up doing what I wanted to. I actually subbed down and I messed up my dismount, but I pulled it into a tuck and kicked it out. I stuck the landing and took no deductions, so it was quite a cool feeling.”

Jaime Atkin, Boychuk’s coach at the Airdrie Edge Gymnastics Club and one of the national team coaches, said that the decision to put Boychuk last was a deliberate one that paid off.

“It puts the most pressure on her, but we knew she could handle it,” he said. “Corissa was a big part of leading the team in terms of encouraging them and being there for them, and she was instrumental in putting us into a situation we’d never been in before.”

Boychuk also competed in the women’s individual double mini trampoline event, which she won last year in France, but was unable to retain her championship title. She finished ninth overall.

She was ranked first after the qualifying round despite lowering the difficulty of her routines prior to leaving for the Worlds’ competition. She completed her first pass in the final, with only minor deductions coming off of her landing.

But her second pass didn’t score, as she landed outside of the marked mat. It was an uncharacteristic error for Boychuk.

“Her preparations and warm ups went really well,” said Atkin. “Everything looked really good and the first pass was almost flawless. The second pass was kind of too bad. It was a very odd mistake and one that came out of nowhere. It’s not one that she makes in general.”

“It’s disappointing, but at the same time it’s hard to be hard on myself for not making the correction,” said Boychuk. “I know what I need to do to not make that mistake again. It’s a hard sport because there isn’t much room for error. I made one mistake and I wish it didn’t make it, but it motivates me to keep going.”

The Worlds’ competition signaled the end of the season for Boychuk, who took a week off before returning to training. With the upcoming season being an Olympic year, she is taking most of the season off to train full time and is looking to return to competition in either July or December.

“I have the entire year, so I’m going to stay here, get better and work harder. I want to (increase) my difficulty and expand my horizons a bit, and I’m going to focus on trampoline,” she said.