* Gina Rogers, mother ofCoquitlam gymnast Brittany Rogers, will be contributing a blog regularly for The Tri-City News during the London 2012 Olympics. The following is her third installment:
History in the making and an elated fivesome made for a memorable day Wednesday at the London 2012 Olympics inside the 02 Arena.
For those that aren't familiar with the gymnastics world at the Olympic Games, the Canadian women's team made the team finals for the first time ever. We placed eighth in the qualifying round, and the top eigaht teams then go on to battle in finals. Three girls out of the five competed in each apparatus - Coquitlam's Brittany Rogers on bars and vault; Dominique Pegg (Sarnia, Ont.) on vault, beam and floor; Ellie Black (Halifax) on vault, beam and floor; Kristina Vaculik (Whitby, Ont.) on bars and beam; and Victoria Moors (Cambridge, Ont.) on bars and floor.
There was not a single slip by any of our Canadian girls and they alldid their absolute best. They made history be making it to the finals, and set unprecedented heights by placing fifth - beating out such world gymnastics powers like Japan, Italy and host Great Britain.(We were a tad leery wearing our Canada shirts on the tube going back to the hotel after the competition).
The girls were all so proud of themselves. After the final results were displayed on the big screen in the arena, they huddled together and laughed and cried and hugged. It really may as well have been a gold medal for them.
After the competition, the team was whisked away in a CTV van taking them straight to the TV London studios. There, they all sat on the white couch and had a spotlight interview. From there, they quickly wolfed down a McDonalds salad as a 10:00 p.m. dinner, and were taken to the Canada House to finally celebrate with their family and friends. Our family and friends have been here for almost a week and this is the first time we were able to see Britt, who is the first female gymnast ever to make apparatus finals at World Championships (2009) and at an Olympic Games.
It was so wonderful to be able to hug her and show her how special she is to us all.
We have had many emails, texts and messages from our friends in Canada, and the coverage we hear about is simply amazing.
Thank you all. Go Canada!
