Nathan Gafuik in Beijing 2008

Olympian Nathan Gafuik headlines men’s Elite Canada February 25-26 in Surrey, B.C.
Posted Tuesday, February 24, 2009

SURREY, B.C. Nathan Gafuik of Calgary, who placed an impressive 17th all around at last summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing, headlines a strong field for the men’s Elite Canada gymnastics competition set for Wednesday and Thursday (February 25-26) at the Guildford Recreation Centre in Surrey.

Gafuik is one of the early favourites in the event which features an all around competition each day. The final ranking will be based on the overall scores from both days of competition. The meet is the second and final phase in the national team selection. Last season’s national championships were the first phase.

Other gymnasts entered include young veterans Ken Ikeda of Abbotsford, B.C., a 2004 Olympic team member and reserve member in 2008, Jared Walls of Edmonton and Casey Sandy of Burlington, Ont., who won the NCAA all around title last year for Penn State.

Some of the fastest rising stars in the sport are also scheduled to compete including Jayd Lukenchuk of Saskatoon, Jackson Payne of Edmonton and Kevin Lytwyn of Burlington, Ont..

‘’The youngsters will be the ones to watch,’’ said Jeff Thomson, men’s artistic gymnastics program director for Gymnastics Canada. ‘’They’ve been training a lot with the senior guys at camps. The big objective for the guys this year has been to focus more on training and build up skills and levels of difficulty.’’

Competition will also be held in the Argo, Tyro and junior levels. Action gets underway both days at noon local time with the Argo and Tyro events and at 6 p.m. with the junior and senior competitions.

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