Sixteen-year-old Lia-Monica Fontaine clinched a silver medal at the artistic gymnastics world championships held in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday. Hailing from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, she secured second place in the vault event with a score of 14.033 points. The gold medal was won by Neutral athlete Angelina Melnikova, scoring 14.466 points, while American Joscelyn Roberson claimed the bronze with a score of 13.983.
Fontaine expressed her surprise at winning silver in her debut world championships, stating, “Coming into these worlds, like I know I’m pretty good on vault, so I was looking forward to doing the final, but I did not know that getting a medal would be possible.”
Fontaine’s achievement makes her only the second Canadian to earn a medal in the women’s vault, following Shallon Olsen’s silver medal in 2018. This success at the world championships marks a significant milestone in Fontaine’s breakout season.
Additionally, Canada’s Aidan Li, a newcomer to the world championships, finished eighth in the men’s pommel horse final, while Felix Dolci placed 16th in the men’s all-around final earlier in the week. The championships will come to a close on Saturday with five more apparatus finals.
Ellie Black, a 30-year-old Canadian, secured fourth place in the qualification round for the women’s beam final in her ninth appearance at the world championships. Notably, Black had previously won silver in the beam at the 2022 worlds and had contributed to Canada’s team bronze. She also achieved an all-around silver at the 2017 worlds in Montreal.