“I know what they are capable of doing,” noted Sudbury Laurels gymnastics coach Julie McEwen last week at practice. “But you just never know what they are going to do on the day.”

Such is the nervousness that surrounds athletes, coaches, families and friends as the group of young gymnasts several hundred strong make their way to the provincial championships.

Sure, the endless hours of training had already paid off, to a certain extent, for those fortunate enough to attend the all-Ontario meet, having reached the threshold required through a series of qualifying meets, registering the types of scores that land them among the very best in their category in the entire province.

Pretty much every year, there is something to cheer about when the Laurels return from the WAG (Women’s Artistic Gymnastics) Championships, an undertaking that has grown large enough to be divided into a Level 3-5 competition as well as a separate Level 6-10 event.

April of 2025, however, was special – and nowhere more so than in the Level 6 Age 11/12 bracket where Gracie Currie became the first local gymnast in at least a decade (and possibly two) to capture an all-around aggregate title.

Stringing together a gold medal performance on the vault, silver on floor and bronze on both bars and beam, the grade five student at Walden Public School registered an overall score of 38.50, topping a group of some 32 or more girls from Windsor to Ottawa.

Though she knew that she was in the running heading into her final event, Currie was thrilled to hear her name called – even if the rise in popularity of on-line result apps may have tipped others off before-hand.

“They called my name to the podium and I had no idea,” noted the ten year old who was first introduced to the sport at age two but only really grasped it in a big way when she make her return to gymnastics later on, at the age of six. “But my dad and my mom started crying, so I kind of had an idea.”

The gold medal winning performance at her year-end meet culminated a very memorable season for Currie, enjoying success in her first shot at Level 6 and already preparing to make the jump to Level 7 in the fall.

“My qualifiers went well; I was starting to get better and better with each qualifier,” she said. “I got stronger and my bars got better. It really helped me a lot. And I understood the skills better.”

“Gracie is very confident so I can almost leave her alone (before her events),” said coach McEwen. “She was just so composed and went for it. Everything came together.”

In fact, a little alone time can go a long, long way in the world of Gracie Currie.

“Before I did my routines and went out on the floor, I visualize my routines,” she said. “I think of doing it good so that I can do it good.”

The Laurels family just narrowly missed making it a double-double set of AA gold medals at provincials this year as Klara Martic (Level 5 – age 9-11) placed second overall in her category, riding a strong showing on both floor (gold) and beam (bronze) to yet another breakthrough.

Coming off a 2023-2024 season that went extremely well, the middle of three children in the family was able to build to an even greater height this year. “I knew that I had improved over the course of the summer,” said Martic. “There were skills that I wasn’t able to do before.”

Always keeping the basics front and centre – “tight legs, pointy toes, straight arms” – Martic added a very successful back tuck on the floor to her toolbox, tapping into elements of both her flexibility and strength that provide a foundation for gymnastics excellence.

Laurels talent was prevalent throughout much of the Level 3-5 competition, with Bria Recoskie (gold – vault) and Cadence MacDonald (gold – vault) also front and centre, sharing the spotlight with Brooklyn Geddes (bronze – beam) and top ten showings from the likes of Madison Lynds, Lucianna Javier and Annabella Wiley.

The higher intensity of the upper levels did little to detract from Laurels success as Isabelle Pelletier (Level 6 – age 14/15) earned gold on the vault, with top-enders Camilla Burns (Level 7 – age 13/14) and Avery Roy (Level 8 – age 15/16) also making their coaches quite proud.

For as much as the potential for greatness is inherent in many of these young gymnasts, it’s never a certainty that it will rise to the top at just the right moment.