Local gymnast brings home gold from provincial tournament

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Local gymnast Olivia Jarvis recently competed at a provincial tournament hosted at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, in April, earning a host of gold medals.

The 12-year-old claimed first place in categories for her age and skill division on beam, vault, and floor, as well as first place all around. 

Her mother, Laura Jarvis, explained Olivia competed at a “Level 7” of the Junior Olympian program, which hosts a skill range categorized by Levels 1 through10. 

In order to qualify to compete on the national stage, the requirement is to be able to perform between Levels 8-10. 

Jarvis explained depending on Olivia’s training results over the course of this summer, she may be able to advance into a national classification, though may not compete on that stage, being potentially still too young to do so. 

“Next year she will; she has done all she can do in Level 7, so she will move up to either an 8, 9 or 10, depending on how her summer goes,” said Jarvis. “Hopefully next year if she does do Level 8, 9, or 10, she can compete at Westerns, and who knows where it will go from there.”

Olivia said she is proud of herself for what she was able to achieve, though feels like she could have done better on her bars. 

Despite this, Olivia placed fifth in that category with a score of 9.2/10, being her highest score to date at the time. 

At a similar, though lesser competition in Okotoks, Olivia scored a 9.7 on bars, claiming gold there.

“I am going to be working on lots of new skills over the summer, like front aerials on beam, a double-back dismount, and a pirouette on bars, and a layout twist on the floor,” said Olivia. 

Going forward, much of Olivia’s ongoing training will consist of aerial flips and maneuvers. 

“A lot more harder skills, she will need to condition a lot more because she needs those muscles in order to do those skills that she is working on,” said Jarvis. 

Despite the current competitive season being over, Olivia trains between 20 and 25 hours per week, year-round in order to maintain her skills and physical conditioning. 

“She will spend the summer working on new skills, then when September comes around, then it will start to be nailed down what level she will compete at based on what skills she is able to do,” said Jarvis. 

A point of pride for Oliva, is that she is often regarded by her peers and other parents as a sort of benchmark, or “the person to beat” amongst others who share her category.