Denelle Pedrick earned a bronze medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships last month in Liverpool. Pedrick grew up in Saskatchewan, training in both Regina and Saskatoon.
“It was obviously extremely unexpected,” Pedrick said, on earning the bronze medal for Canada in the women’s team event.
Canada has never had a podium finish in the women’s team event at the World Championships.
AN OVERWHELMING VICTORY
The group of five gymnasts had only just squeaked into the team final after the preliminary round, grabbing the eighth and final spot.
“Obviously [we] want to do our best but it wasn’t really our mindset at all [to medal]. We came into the competition in eighth and we were joking with each other ‘They can’t put us ninth, we can’t be worse that eighth [this time]’,” Pedrick laughed.
“All we can do is enjoy our gymnastics and do our best.”
It was an emotional and unexpected moment for the women when they realized they had secured a medal.
“We were very focused on our team, watching each other, and cheering each other on. We weren’t really sure what was going on in the rest of the arena. You see a routine here and there but you don’t really know the scores or know what’s happening,” Pedrick described.
“We got to beam, which was our final event and our main goal of the day was to just hit all of our routines … We had two [good] routines and it was just Ellie left. Who better to anchor your lineup than Ellie Black?”
Black is a three time Olympian who has been a staple for Canadian women’s gymnastics for over a decade.
Black helped Canada qualify for the team finals for the first time in history at the London Olympics in 2012.
In 2017, Black, became the first Canadian gymnast to win a world all-around medal.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Black finished fourth on beam, a best-ever result in artistic gymnastics for Canada.
Black also earned a silver medal on beam at this year’s world championships.
“I already knew she [Ellie] was going to hit [her routine], it was just going to be how good it was. She finished and we were just so happy, just so happy to be there … We had no idea the standings at all. I was looking at the standings a little bit because I didn’t compete on beam, and I was like ‘Oh, that’s cool, I think we’re going to finish top five,’’ Pedrick laughed.
“Then I looked up and saw our men’s team [in the crowd] and they were all like freaking out and then we looked around and everyone was looking at us and I was like ‘I think we may have got third.’”
Pedrick said Black did not believe her at first and had to double check the scores before she and the team could get their hopes up.
When they finally announced it, Pedrick described the moment as overwhelming and filled with tears as the team jumped up and down.
“It was kind of a rollercoaster because it’s never happened before,” she said.
ROOTS IN SASKATCHEWAN
The amazing moment took years of training and a major comeback in the sport for Pedrick, who grew up in Manitoba in her early years before moving to Saskatchewan when she was in elementary school.
“I started doing more recreational gymnastics [after beginning in Manitoba] in Regina and one of the coaches saw that me and my twin sister had potential so we tried out for competitive,” she said.
“I was very fearless as a child, I wasn’t really scared of anything.”
Pedrick said her fearless antics garnered the attention of the national coach at her gym at the time and she went on to train at a high level at a young age.
By her early teen years, Pedrick had outgrown her gym and moved over to Gymnastics Adventure - another gym located in Regina.
The new gym had more girls her age and level in the sport. Pedrick trained there for a few years and then moved to Marian Gymnastics in Saskatoon.
Even though Pedrick trained in Saskatoon she still was enrolled at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox the entirety of her high school years.
However, in her final year of high school, Pedrick took a step back from the sport due to injuries.
“I was committed to a school in the U.S. in probably grade 10 or 11 and then I had a big injury and they dropped my scholarship to give to someone else,” Pedrick explained.
“I thought, ‘I guess this is too big of an injury to come back from. Maybe I shouldn’t do gymnastics anymore’. But I continued, then my grade 12 year at nationals, which is like the very end of the school year, I got recruited to Central Michigan.”
Pedrick was offered a full-ride to Central Michigan and competed there for four years. However her final collegiate career was interrupted early by the COVID-19 pandemic.
'UNFINISHED BUSINESS'
At that point, Pedrick thought her gymnastics career was finally over. She went home in April of 2020, back to Saskatchewan. After a few months she felt the urge to get back in the sport.
“Something in me was like ‘I feel like I have some unfinished business in gymnastics’. I wasn’t doing any training at the time. I decided I still wanted to try and make the national team,” she said.
Pedrick then called David Kikuchi, Ellie Black’s coach, based in Halifax to ask if she could come out there to train. He happily agreed.
After five and a half months off, Pedrick was back and this time training alongside Canada’s top female gymnast. However, life looked different as the two were competing and training during pandemic times.
“We did a year and a half of virtual competitions, that was the full 2021 season,” she explained.
Pedrick said Black has been a great friend and mentor in the sport since she joined the gym and the veteran even gave her advice once they both clinched the 2022 World’s team.
“It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be hard at first, but once you get to worlds and compete, you’ll realize everything has paid off,” Black said to Pedrick.
The two train over 25 hours a week with weights and conditioning added on top of that.
“She’s a fantastic, young lady. Such a great ambassador for the sport. She just has this drive about her that’s just natural,” Patricia Greenley, Pedrick’s former coach, said about the young gymnast.
“She is very goal oriented and so I’m glad she kept with it and was able to have such an amazing opportunity [making the team].”
FOR THE FUTURE
The bronze medal was not the only exciting piece the team left the 2022 Championships with.
The team’s third place finish also automatically earned them a team birth at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It’s the first time Canada has qualified two years in advance.
“That was really exciting for us because we had planned on kind of using this World’s as almost like a prep for next year,” Pedrick explained. “So we were shooting for next year, but having it done a year ahead it’s really exciting and it takes the pressure off of next year. We can kind of work on a couple of new things and take a few more risks.”
For Pedrick, the next two years will be spent trying to earn a spot on that 2024 team.
“It’s going to be a grind for sure. It’s always the toughest year leading into the Olympics because everyone’s pushing for that team,” she said.
“For me, my main focus will be on vault. That’s my best event and that’s kind of what put me on the national team [this year] in the first place.”
However, Pedrick has also made a name for herself, literally, on another event in the sport.
The 23-year old created a skill on the uneven bars. She competed her newly formed transition from the high bar to the low at an international competition.
Since she was the first to successfully perform the skill, the move is now called the ‘Pedrick’ in the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) code of points.
“I guess I’ve realized the potential I do have and I guess it took this big year of every[thing] kind of coming together to realize my potential,” Pedrick said.
“I loved being on the World’s team and hopefully the Olympics.”
