North Vancouver gymnast Shallon Olsen will have a chance to launch herself onto the podium Sunday after landing a berth in the Olympic vault final at the Tokyo Summer Games.
Olsen finished in sixth place during qualifying held Sunday, July 25, putting up a score of 14.699. Simone Biles of the United States qualified in top spot with a score of 15.183, followed by her American teammate Jade Carey who scored 15.166.
Olsen said it was exciting and nerve-wracking to be competing for Team Canada again on the international stage.
"Today was a little bit stressful for me, I haven't competed for over a year with this team, and just being back out there on the big stage is just something I wanted to take in and enjoy," Olsen stated in a GymCan release. "It was obviously a little bit different not having the crowd there, but I think the cheerfulness and excitement kept me going this whole time and I know my teammates had my back throughout the whole meet and I'm really, really grateful for that.”
Olsen was born in Vancouver, grew up in Surrey and attended high school in Coquitlam, but she now calls North Vancouver home and trains at Flicka Gymnastics with coach Dorina Stan. She competed in NCAA gymnastics in the 2020-21 season with the University of Alabama, earning First-Team Championship All-American status on vault.
This will be Olsen’s second trip to an Olympic final, the first coming five years ago in Rio where she placed eighth.
The vault final is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Tokyo time on Sunday, Aug. 1, which is 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 1 in Vancouver.
