Kate Richardson has been selected to her second Olympic team. |
||||||||||
 |
Kate Richardson Named To Canadian Olympic Team
July 11, 2004
UCLA junior Kate Richardson was selected late Sunday night by Gymnastics Canada as the fifth member of the Canadian Olympic Team after a strong showing at the Olympic Trials. Richardson, who will be a junior next season, becomes the first Bruin gymnast to make an Olympic team while competing for UCLA. She made the Olympic team in 2000 while still in high school.
Richardson placed fourth overall at the Trials but just missed out on an automatic spot on the Olympic team, which were based on a cumulative point system that included results from this weekend's trials, last month's national championships, as well as other international competitions throughout the season. Richardson placed fifth at the national championships and had not competed for Canada for two years.
In Sunday's final day of competition at the Trials, Richardson had the third-highest all-around score, posting a 36.7. In the first rotation, she recorded the highest score of the meet on the balance beam, a 9.5. An out-of-bounds deduction lowered her score on floor exercise to 9.05, and she scored a pair of 9.075s on vault and uneven bars.
Richardson, who is coached by UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field and Abbotsford Twisters coach David Kenwright, joins Melanie Banville, Amelie Plante, Heather Purnell and Kylie Stone on the Olympic team. The sixth member and alternate will be announced Monday. Richardson is the only holdover from the 2000 Olympic squad that placed ninth. She earned a 15th-place all-around finish, the highest Olympic finish ever by a Canadian female gymnast.
|
|
 |
