Gymnastics, Athlete, 2016 |
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Coquitlam’s Kate Richardson took to gymnastics at the age of three and parlayed her passion for the sport to the highest levels. She made her national championship debut at the age of 11 as a novice, and emerged from that experience with all all-around gold.
Richardson made her international senior division debut in Taipei in 1998, placing second overall. A strong individual performance at the 1999 World championships in Tianjin, China – including a breakthrough on uneven bars – paved the way for her and the Canadian team to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
In Sydney the Canadians placed ninth, while Richardson, 16, established a Canadian Olympic gymnastics first by qualifying for the all-around finals, finishing 15th all around.
In 2002 a serious back injury required her to have two vertebrae fused together, casting her position as Canada’s top gymnast in doubt. But Richardson’s iron-cast work ethic saw her recover fully and compete that year in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, winning the all-around gold.
A scholarship to UCLA in hand, Richardson split her time between university and Canadian Olympic goals. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Richardson placed 7th place in floor exercise — the first Canadian woman to qualify for an event final at a fully-contested Olympic Games.
At UCLA, she led her school to back-to-back NCAA titles, and finished her four-year college career with 13 All-American honours.