Gemini Gymnastics is a high performance Canadian gymnastics club located in Oshawa, Ontario. It was established in 1979 as a parent-run club. Head coach Elena Davydova was the gold medallist in the women's artistic individual all-around at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Gemini Gymnastics is one of the top gymnastics clubs in Canada.[ citation needed ] In 2012 it was awarded a Gold "Club of Excellence" Award by Gymnastics Canada,[ citation needed ] the highest award of its kind. Gemini has won this award for 10 straight years, ever since the award's creation in 2003 and is only one of two clubs in Canada to have done so.[ citation needed ]
Gemini has produced champions in all levels of competitive gymnastics, including 25 Canadian All Around (AA) Champions, 13 Elite Canada AA Champions, 26 Eastern Canadian AA Champions and 130 Ontario AA Champions, World Silver Medalist, two Olympians..etc..≥ [1] [2] [3] [4]
Elena Davydova, Gymnastics Canada Life Member, was also named Ontario's Female Coach of the Year in 2012 [5] and 1996, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2009-10, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017 Junior/Senior Canada's Coach of the Year. In 2019 was awarded Coaching Excellence Award from Coaching Association of Canada.
In June 2012, Kristina Vaculik was named to the Canadian Olympic Women's Artistic Gymnastic's Team, and Elena was named as one of the team's coaches. On July 29, the Canadian team made team finals, the first Canadian gymnastics team to make a team final in a non-boycotted year. On July 31, the team came 5th in the women's artistic team all-around finals, behind the United States, Russia, Romania, and China.
Ana Padurariu, winner of 4 medals at the 2019 Canadian Championships
Silver Medalist in the A-Around behind Simone Biles at the 2019 World Cup in Stuttgart, GER
2019 Elite Canada Champion in A-Around, Bars, Beam and Floor
World Silver Medallist on Beam at her first World Championships in 2018 and best-ever result with Team Canada 4th place in the Team Final
Made her Senior debut in 2018 winning the A-Around silver medal at Elite Canada and Bars Silver at Canadian Championships
Won every event & A-Around (5 golds) at the 2017 Canadian Championships, 2017 Elite Canada and 2016 Olympic Hopes Cup.
Won 4 gold medals at the 2016 Pan American Championships.
Ava Stewart , in July 2021 competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. [6]
Yelena Viktorovna Davydova is a Russian-Canadian gymnastics coach and judge who competed for the former Soviet Union. She was the women's artistic individual all-around champion at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She's the owner and head coach at Gemini Gymnastics, a gymnastics club in Oshawa, Ontario. In July 2012, Davydova was one of the coaches of the Canadian Women's Artistic Gymnastics Team. In 2016 Davydova was head floor judge at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations like British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games.
Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina is an Uzbekistani artistic gymnast.
Tabitha Yim is an American former elite artistic gymnast. She is a 2001 World bronze medalist in the team competition, the 2002 U.S. national balance beam champion, the 2001 U.S. national floor exercise champion, and a two-time U.S. national all-around silver medalist. Following her elite career, she became an NCAA gymnastics coach and was an assistant coach for the Stanford women's gymnastics team. She was hired as the head coach of the University of Arizona women's gymnastics team in May 2015 and was named the head coach at Stanford in August 2017.
Steliana Nistor is a Romanian former artistic gymnast. She was a key member of the Romanian team between 2006 and 2008, where she helped the Romania win team bronze medals at the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Olympics. Individually, she is the 2007 world all-around and beam silver medallist, the 2007 and 2008 European silver medallist on the uneven bars and the 2007 bronze medallist on the balance beam. Nistor was a strong all-around competitor but her best events were balance beam and uneven bars.
Cristina Bontaş is a Romanian former artistic gymnast, who competed in international events between 1987 and 1993. Her best events were the floor exercise, the vault, and the all around. She is a world champion on floor, a double olympic medalist and a six-time world medalist. Bontaş scored a perfect ten on floor in the all around event of the 1989 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Cristina Elena Grigoraş is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. She is a two-time Olympic medalist with the team. Individually, she won four medals at the 1981 European Championships. She is best known for a skill on the balance beam named after her: forward salto tucked with ½ twist (180°) take off from both legs.
Amina Vasilovna Zaripova is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast who now works as an elite rhythmic gymnastics coach. She is the 1994 World All-around silver medalist, 1993 World All-around bronze medalist and a two time European All-around bronze medalist. She finished fourth at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Vanda Maria Hădărean is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast who competed in international events between 1990 and 1993. She is an Olympic silver medalist and a world bronze medalist with the team and a European all around bronze medalist. She is also a successful fitness model and she has won various world class fitness competitions. She is a four-time Ms. Fitness World and a four-time Ms. Fitness Canada (2006–2009). She also coaches, trains, provides consultation services to gymnasts and fitness models under the brand name “Inspired by Vanda”. She is also known for her breakout photo series in the Romanian Playboy magazine.
Elvira Fuadovna Saadi is a retired gymnast from the former Soviet Union and a former elite gymnastics coach in Canada.
Elsabeth Ann Black is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She is a three-time Olympian, having represented her country at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games. She is the 2017 World all-around silver medalist, making her the first Canadian gymnast to win a world all-around medal, and she led the Canadian women's gymnastics team to a bronze medal in the 2022 World Championships team final, the first world team medal won by a Canadian gymnastics team. She won a silver medal on the balance beam at the 2022 World Championships. She is also the 2018 Commonwealth Games all-around champion, a two-time Pan American Games all-around champion, and a six-time Canadian national all-around champion. At the 2020 Olympic Games, Black placed fourth in the balance beam final, the highest placement in the Olympics for a female Canadian gymnast.
Lilia Igorevna Akhaimova is a Russian retired artistic gymnast. She represented the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in the team event. She is a two-time World silver medalist and the 2018 European champion with the Russian team. She is also a six-time Universiade medalist.
Richelle Aiko Simpson is a retired Canadian artistic gymnast and current acrobat for the renowned Cirque du Soleil company. An elite level gymnast for five years, representing the Canadian National Team at both Pan American Games and the World Championships competitions during that period, Simpson enjoyed her career highlights as an NCAA collegiate student-athlete – competing as a member of the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's gymnastics program. She remains one of the program's finest ever gymnasts, holding a total of four individual school records. Additionally, she was the first Nebraska gymnast to receive first-team All-American awards in all five events, and is one of only two Nebraska gymnasts to win an NCAA National all-around title – an accomplishment she achieved in 2003.
The Soviet Union women's national artistic gymnastics team represented the Soviet Union in FIG international competitions. They were the dominant force in the sport from the 1950s until the Soviet Union's collapse. They lead the medal tally for women's artistic gymnastics with 88 medals including 33 gold. Larisa Latynina is also the most decorated female athlete at the Olympic games with a total of 18 medals. Soviet dominance was unprecedented in scale and longevity and was likely the result of the country's heavy investment in mass and elite sports to fulfill its political agenda.
Shallon Jade Olsen is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She is the 2018 World silver medalist and 2018 Commonwealth Games champion on vault. She is also the 2018 Commonwealth Games floor exercise bronze medalist and the 2019 Pan American Games vault bronze medalist. She was a member of the Canadian team that won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the silver medal at the 2019 Pan American Games. She is also the 2016 Pacific Rim vault champion, team silver medalist, and floor exercise bronze medalist. She represented Canada at the 2016 Olympics where she was the youngest member of the Canadian Olympic team and at the 2020 Olympic Games. Additionally, she currently competes for the University of Alabama gymnastics team, and she helped the Crimson Tide win the 2021 SEC Championships.
Brooklyn Chloe Moors is a Canadian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2020 Olympic Games. She has also represented Canada at the 2017, 2018, and 2019 World Championships. At the 2017 World Championships she became the first Canadian to win the Longines Prize for Elegance. She is the 2019 Pan American Games champion on the floor exercise and the silver medalist with the team. She is also the 2017 Pan American champion on the floor exercise. She currently competes for the UCLA Bruins in collegiate gymnastics.
Anne-Marie "Ana" Padurariu is a Canadian artistic gymnast and the 2018 World Championships silver medalist on balance beam.
Emma Spence is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She represented Canada at the 2022 World Championships and won a bronze in the team event, their first team medal. She won bronze with the team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Individually she is the 2018 Youth Olympic bronze medallist on vault as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games all-around and balance beam bronze medalist.
Dianne Patrice Durham was an American artistic gymnast. In 1983, she won the all-around senior title at the women's US National Championships, becoming the first African American athlete to do so. She was Béla and Márta Károlyi's first elite athlete in the United States, helping establish their coaching credentials outside of the state-sponsored program of their native Romania, and trained with Mary Lou Retton, who called Durham her "best competition". After injuries and competition stipulations prevented her from competing in the 1984 Summer Olympics, Durham retired from competition in 1985. She later ran the Skyline Gymnastics school in Chicago.
Ava Elizabeth Stewart is an American-born Canadian artistic gymnast. She represented Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was a member of the bronze medal winning teams at the 2022 Pan American Championships and 2023 Pan American Games.