Rowing, triathlon, swimming, cycling, field hockey come to mind among the many sports on the Island that have reliably produced Olympic athletes for sa国际传媒.
Not gymnastics, however, with Victoria and sa国际传媒 sports halls of fame inductee Phillip Delesalle being the last, at Montreal in 1976.
That could change with the opening of the largest gymnastics facility in British Columbia. The Inspire Sports-Victoria Centre holds an open house today, from 1 to 4 p.m., at 601 Boleskine Road, Unit 2, in Saanich.
It is a 22,000-square-foot facility that will cater to all abilities and all ages, from elites to children and seniors. The large centre, a former freezer facility for food distributor Sysco, has had more than $1-million worth of renovations and state-of-the-art equipment installed.
That includes all disciplines 鈥� rings, balance beams, parallel, uneven and horizontal bars, pommel horses, trampolines, a vault run-up ramp leading to vault tables, a 42-foot by 42-foot sprung surface for floor exercises and a kids鈥� area with pared-down equipment.
The regular opening is Tuesday at 9 a.m. The ceremonial grand opening is planned for October with several former Olympians from sa国际传媒, the U.S. and China scheduled to be on hand.
It is the first Inspire Sports gymnastics complex in sa国际传媒 and ninth in the world. There are seven in China, one in Japan and another opening in Australia in 2020. The chain was established by former Chinese national team gymnast and Canadian Olympic team coach Liang Cheng of Edmonton.
Victoria is a great sports city, but the company saw an underserved market in gymnastics, said national-certified coach Lucas Tiefenbach, manager of Inspire Sports-Victoria.
Tiefenbach is part of the centre鈥檚 five-member ownership group that includes Cheng and four local investors.
鈥淕ymnastics is one of three foundational sports identified by Sport sa国际传媒, along with swimming and athletics [track and field],鈥� said Tiefenbach, who added that cross-training for other sports is a key component of gymnastics.
鈥淕ymnastics is for any athlete in any sport because it works all parts of your body and improves whatever you do as your main sport. Sport sa国际传媒 recognizes seven basic body movements, and in gymnastics, you use all of them.鈥�
Tiefenbach sees the new gym as an all-service centre, catering to kids鈥� birthday parties on up to Olympians-in-training.
鈥淲e believe in gymnastics for all levels, ages and abilities. At the top end of that, absolutely, we are going to see national teamers coming out of this facility and a national team presence here. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any doubt.鈥�
It has already been announced the 2019 International Cup featuring sa国际传媒, U.S., Australia and Japan will be held at Inspire Sport-Victoria from June 21 to 23. The Chinese national team, the gold standard in the sport, has expressed an interest in holding camps in Victoria ahead of North American competitions.
The sa国际传媒 team will hold its pre-Games training camp in the facility ahead of the 2019 sa国际传媒 Games in Red Deer. With the 2020 Summer Olympics being trans-Pacific, Canadian national teams in most sports are expected to base their final training camps on the Island and Lower Mainland ahead of departing for Tokyo, opening up another strong possibility in gymnastics for the new Victoria facility.
Owen Magraken, 12, is just the sort of Island athlete the new gym is expected to boost as the hunt begins for the next Delesalle, one of sa国际传媒鈥檚 greatest gymnasts. The promising Magraken is good enough to continue in the sport at a high level, but would have had to move to Delta to do so, because there were previously few other such venues for elite young Island male gymnasts. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited for this. This will really help my development, especially in my specialities the pommel horse and rings,鈥� Magraken said.
