Emma Spence

Emma Spence (born February 27, 2003) is a Canadian artistic gymnast and the 2018 Youth Olympic bronze medalist on vault.

Emma Spence
Spence at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games
Personal information
Born	27 February 2003 Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Years on national team	2017–present (CAN)
Club	Dynamo
College team	Nebraska Cornhuskers (2022–25)[1]
Head coach(es)	Elvira Saadi
Assistant coach(es)	Denis Vachon
Medal record Artistic gymnastics Representing  Canada Event 1st 2nd 3rd Youth Olympic Games 0 0 1 FIG World Challenge Cup 0 0 1 Total 0 0 2 Youth Olympic Games 2018 Buenos Aires Vault Pacific Rim Championships (Junior) 2018 Medellín Team

Early life

Emma Spence was born in Cambridge, Ontario in 2003.[2] Her great-grandmother was sprinter Mary Vandervliet.

Gymnastics career

2016–2017

In 2016 Spence competed at Elite Gym Massilia. She competed on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise and did not qualify to any event finals.[3]

In 2017 Spence competed at Elite Canada where she only competed the uneven bars, vault and the floor exercise, due to injury during the competition.[4] In March she competed at International Gymnix in Montreal where she won gold on the uneven bars.[5] In May she competed at the Canadian Championships where she won silver in the all-around behind Ana Padurariu. Additionally she finished fourth on vault and third on uneven bars and balance beam.[6] She was later selected to represent Canada at the International Junior Japan competition alongside Padurariu. Spence placed eighth in the all-around.[7] Spence ended the season competing at Elite Gym Massilia. She placed 26th in the all-around and fourth on vault.[8]

2018

With Padurariu becoming senior, Spence entered 2018 as the top Canadian junior. In February she competed at Elite Canada where she placed first in the all-around, third on vault and first on uneven bars and floor exercise.[9] In March Spence competed at International Gymnix where she placed sixth in the all-around, seventh on vault, sixth on uneven bars, and eighth on floor exercise.[10] Spence was later selected to represent Canada at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. While there she helped Canada win silver in the team final.[11] In the all-around she placed fifth,[12] and she placed fourth on vault and sixth on balance beam and floor exercise.[13] At the Canadian Championships in May Spence placed second in the all-around behind Zoé Allaire-Bourgie.[14] In June Spence represented Canada at the 2018 Junior Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She placed fifth in the all-around and on balance beam and won silver in the team final.[15] As the top 2003-born gymnast, Spence was selected to represent Canada at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.[16] While there she qualified to the all-around, vault, balance beam, and floor exercise finals.[17] Spence finished 10th in the all-around final,[18] third on vault behind Giorgia Villa of Italy and Csenge Bácskay of Hungary,[19] fifth on floor exercise, and eighth on balance beam.[20] She was selected as Canada's flag bearer at the closing ceremonies.[21]

All-Around Final

Vault Final

Balance Beam Final

Floor Exercise Final

Spence at the 2018 Youth Olympics

2019

In 2019, Spence turned senior. She made her debut at Elite Canada where she placed seventh in the all-around and fourth on floor exercise.[22] In March she competed at the 2019 L'International Gymnix. She helped Canada win the silver medal. Individually Spence placed 14th in the all-around.[23] In May Spence competed at the Canadian National Championships. After the first day of competition she was in seventh place in the all-around. On the second day, Spence withdrew from the competition after only competing on uneven bars due to a knee injury.[24] In June Spence competed at the Flanders International Team Challenge in Ghent, Belgium alongside Laurie Denommée, Isabela Onyshko, Quinn Skrupa, and Rose-Kaying Woo. Together they placed fourth in the team final behind the Netherlands, Australia, and Belgium. Individually Spence placed sixteenth in the all-around.[25]

In September Spence competed at the Szombathely World Cup where she qualified to the vault, balance beam, and floor exercise finals. During event finals she won bronze on balance beam behind Noémi Makra of Hungary and Teja Belak of Slovenia and placed sixth on vault and fifth on floor exercise.[26]

2020

In late January Spence was listed on a nominative roster that was released for the Melbourne World Cup, scheduled to take place on February 20. Her first competition of the season was Elite Canada, where she placed fourth in the all-around behind Ana Padurariu, Brooklyn Moors, and Isabela Onyshko.[27] At the Melbourne World Cup Spence finished tenth in qualifications on vault and uneven bars and was the second reserve for each of those event finals; however she qualified to both the balance beam and floor exercise finals. During event finals she placed eighth on each.[28]

In November Spence signed her National Letter of Intent with the Nebraska Cornhuskers gymnastics team, intending to start in the 2021–22 school year.[29]

Competitive history

Junior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2017	International Gymnix		22
	Canadian Championships
	Junior Japan Intl		8	7	6	7
	Elite Gym Massilia		26	4
2018	Elite Canada
	International Gymnix		6	7	6		8
	Pacific Rim Championships		5		4	6	6
	Canadian Championships
	Pan American Championships		5			5
	Youth Olympic Games		10			8	5

Senior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2019	Elite Canada		7				4
	International Gymnix		14
	Canadian Championships				7
	FIT Challenge	4	16
	Szombathely World Cup			6			5
2020	Elite Canada		4		4	8	5
	Melbourne World Cup			R2	R2	8	8

References

1. http://collegegymfans.com/recruiting-news/item/10731-nebraska-adds-emma-spence-for-2021-22.html
2. "National Teams Emma Spence". GymCan.
3. "2016 Elite Gym Massilia Results". The Gymternet. November 11, 2016.
4. "2017 Elite Canada Results". The Gymternet. February 3, 2017.
5. "2017 International Gymnix Results". The Gymternet. March 10, 2017.
6. "2017 Canadian Championships Results". The Gymternet. May 25, 2017.
7. "2017 Junior Japan International Results". The Gymternet. September 17, 2017.
8. "2017 Elite Gym Massilia Results". The Gymternet. November 27, 2017.
9. "2018 Elite Canada Results". The Gymternet. February 3, 2018.
10. "2018 International Gymnix Results". The Gymternet. March 11, 2018.
11. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_18pacrim_team.pdf
12. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_18pacrim_jraa.pdf
13. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_18pacrim_jrevents.pdf
14. "2018 Canadian Championships Results". The Gymternet. May 28, 2018.
15. "2018 Junior Pan American Championships Results". The Gymternet. June 20, 2018.
16. "Cambridge's Emma Spence named to Youth Olympic team". Cambridge Times. September 8, 2018.
17. "Emma Spence (Dynamo) qualifies for finals on day two of the Youth Olympic Games". Gymnastics Ontario. October 10, 2018.
18. "2018 Youth Olympics – Congratulations – Emma Spence Finishes 10th All-Around and 3rd on Vault". Gymanstics Ontario. October 15, 2018.
19. "Canadian gymnast Emma Spence takes bronze at Youth Olympic Games". Canadian Broadcasting Centre. October 13, 2018.
20. "2018 Youth Olympic Games Results". The Gymternet. October 7, 2018.
21. "Emma Spence is Team Canada's Buenos Aires 2018 Closing Ceremony flag bearer". Canadian Olympic Committee. October 18, 2018.
22. "2019 Elite Canada Results". The Gymternet. February 2, 2019.
23. "2019 International Gymnix Live Blog – Senior Cup". The Gymternet. March 8, 2019.
24. "Ellie Black wins sixth Canadian all-around title at 2019 Canadian Championships". GymCan. May 26, 2019.
25. "2019 FIT Challenge Results". The Gymternet. June 10, 2019.
26. "2019 Szombathely Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. September 11, 2019.
27. "Padurariu repeats as Senior All-around Champion at 2020 Elite Canada in Women's Artistic Gymnastics". GymCan. February 9, 2020.
28. "2020 Melbourne World Cup Results". The Gymternet. February 24, 2020.
29. "Huskers Add Canadian National Star Spence". Nebraska Cornhuskers. November 20, 2020.

External links

• Emma Spence on the Gymnastics Canada website
• Emma Spence at the International Gymnastics Federation