Alabama’s Shallon Olsen Finishes Fourth on the Vault at World Championships
10/12/2019 7:09:00 PM | Gymnastics
The Crimson Tide sophomore averaged 14.733 over two vaults, less than a tenth of a point off the podium
STUTTGART, Germany – Alabama gymnast Shallon Olsen took fourth place on the vault in event finals of the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany Saturday, a fraction of a point away from a second-straight podium finish at Worlds.
The Crimson Tide sophomore, representing Team Canada at her third World Championships, completed a Yurchenko double-twisting vault for a score of 14.600 before hitting her second vault, a Cheng, for a 14.866, giving her a final scoring average of 14.733. Team USA's Simone Biles won the gold with an average score of 15.399. Jade Carey (USA) took silver with an average score of 14.833 and Great Britain's Ellie Downie came away with the bronze after an average score of 14.816.
Olsen, the only current NCAA gymnast to earn a place in event finals at this year's Worlds, was sixth on the vault coming out of qualifying, helping Canada earn a berth at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, before posting another strong showing during team finals, where Canada finished seventh. Olsen took the silver medal at the 2018 World Championships behind Biles' gold.
SHALLON OLSEN SAID
"Today went really good. I had a few little mistakes, but I'm just going to work harder for next time. It was a great opportunity to compete with the best in the world, and it was a huge blessing to compete for Canada with my teammates supporting me. Now I'll just keep working on perfecting my vaults, and working on some of the other events, and also finishing my schoolwork."
OLSEN ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE
- Olsen has competed for Team Canada at the last three World Championships (2017, 2018 and 2019) and advanced to event finals on the vault in all three
- She earned silver at the 2018 World Championships, becoming the first Canadian woman to earn a vault medal at Worlds, posting a score of 14.516 to take second to Team USA's Simone Biles
- Olsen finished fourth on the vault in 2019 and seventh at her first Worlds in 2017
- Olsen competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she finaled on the vault
- At the 2019 Pan America Games, she helped lead Canada to a silver medal in the team competition while earning bronze on the vault
- She was a triple medalist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, taking gold in the team competition and on vault as well as bronze on the floor exercise
For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and head coach Dana Duckworth on Twitter and Instagram at @UACoachDana.
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