Local gymnast to represent Team Alberta at Canada Winter Games

Posted on: Staff Writer

From edition: January 4 2019 Strathmore Times

By Brady Grove, Times Reporter

Montana Fairbairn (middle), 16, won a gold medal in the balance beam event at the Team Alberta trials on Dec. 14-16 at the Altadore Gymnastics Club. The next step for the young athlete is competing in four artistic gymnastics events at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer from Feb. 15 to March 3. Photo Courtesy of Jaime Fairbairn

Montana Fairbairn (middle), 16, won a gold medal in the balance beam event at the Team Alberta trials on Dec. 14-16 at the Altadore Gymnastics Club. The next step for the young athlete is competing in four artistic gymnastics events at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer from Feb. 15 to March 3.
Photo Courtesy of Jaime Fairbairn
Strathmore gymnast Montana Fairbairn took a big step in her sports career by qualifying for the 2019 Canada Winter Games in artistic gymnastics for Team Alberta.
The 16-year-old athlete proved successful at the qualifying trials at Altadore Gymnastics in Calgary Dec. 14-16.
“I felt like I had really good preparation and support going into the trials,” said Fairbairn. “(I’m) going to get lots of practice and routines, over and over, to get as perfect as possible.”
The top six gymnasts from the trials qualified for the games to represent Team Alberta with Fairbairn finishing in sixth to grab the last spot. According to Fairbairn’s mother Jaime, Montana struggled early at the trials but a gold medal routine in the balance beam event pushed her back into it.
“It was kind of her trump card because she was behind the eight-ball but just managed to pull out a big win,” said Jaime Fairbairn.
The 2019 Canada Winter Games will take place in Red Deer from Feb. 15 to March 3, with up to 3,600 athletes, managers and coaches competing in 19 sports. Fairbairn is competing in four separate events in artistic gymnastics: balance beam, floor exercise, uneven bars and vault.
Fairbairn, who is in Grade 11 at Strathmore High School, said she hopes to gain experience at the games as well as improve her skills. Fairbairn’s goal is to land a scholarship in the future and hopefully go to the University of Oklahoma.
“I’ve been there lots and I really like the area and it’s a top gymnastics team,” said Fairbairn who started gymnastics at the age of four.
“(I like) trying new skills and doing stuff that the average kid doesn’t get to do in their life, like flipping around all day,” said Fairbairn.
She has been training at Kin Gymnastics in Calgary for eight years, which used to be the Stampede City Gymnastics Club until June 2018. The young gymnast trains 26 hours a week and praised the club for pushing her when she needed it, especially if she was feeling scared or unsure of herself.
According to Jaime, her daughter sets high expectations for herself and is very determined to succeed.
“She can be pretty hard on herself,” said Jaime. “She likes to reach her goals but I’ve seen her not make a goal one year and then get back into it and come out stronger than she was.”