Head Coach John Carroll (Coquitlam) has been leading Team BC gymnastics artistic athletes at the Canada Games for more than 35 years.
“I’ve been coming to the Canada Games since 1987 and I can’t remember BC ever having such a strong showing,” says Carroll.
Team BC’s male gymnastics group earned six medals on individual apparatus events along with a silver in the team event at the PEI 2023 Canada Winter Games. The women earned bronze in the team event. Brooklyn Lee-McMeeken (Pitt Meadows) won gold in gymnastics trampoline.
At the Red Deer 2019 Winter Games, the BC men’s team won just one bronze medal.
Carroll says the PEI 2023 performance sets up the province well for the rest of this decade in men’s gymnastics. “A couple of the boys will compete in senior this year at the Canadian championships. They are showing really well and one boy is currently on the national team.”
After spending endless hours of training and competitions, Carroll says the 2023 Canada Games were validation for his team. “With all the blood, sweat and tears – to watch it all come together, it’s makes you speechless a little bit because we’ve been trying so hard for so long, and now here it is,” he concludes. “We’ve had absolute success in PEI.”
A gymnastics legend in the province, Carroll is a longtime contributor to the BC Winter Games program as a coach, provincial advisor, judge and more.
- Filed by Sam Corea (@sammy_sez), Team BC Communications Staff
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