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The Commonwealth Games have come to a close, at least for our purposes (results). As we know, this competition is really a showcase of three countries (England, Australia and Canada) … plus others. Still, it was a treat to see these athletes in action at a large international competition as we get closer to worlds in October.
We’ll start with the team final/qualifications, where Australia took the top spot by over a point, led by strong outings from Breanna Scott and veteran Georgia Godwin. Canada followed; as predicted, Lia-Monica Fontaine was incredible here, along with the legendary Ellie Black.
England held on for bronze, followed by Wales. Shantae-Eve Amankwaah led Team England with a breakout performance to secure bronze just under a point ahead of Wales. Ruby Evans, the British national champion, competed in the all-around for Wales, joined by strong performances from the Roper twins, Emily and Abigail.
Fontaine and Black excel
Canada may have come in second, but they led the medal count with five, thanks to incredible performances from their top two all-arounders.
In addition to team silver, Fontaine took bronze in the all-around (52.800) with a solid performance. Her huge DTY easily put her in the lead in the first rotation; then, she hit bars with a DLO that she landed about a mile away from the bars and stuck cold. Nerves on beam held her back there, including balance checks throughout, but she stuck her double tuck. On floor, her double double had so much power that she stepped out of bounds, but her double straight was nearly stuck.
She repeated her strong vault performance in the final, starting with a massive DTY with just some leg separation, followed by a beautiful Lopez, easily giving her the gold (14.000).
In the beam final, she had a great routine featuring an incredible bhs stepout, loso loso, but little nervous errors kept her in third (13.000). She also made the floor final, which must have been exhausting, and she placed sixth there. It truly was an excellent performance, and she should be very proud.
While Fontaine may represent the new order for Canada, Ellie Black is still kicking. I undersold her last week after seeing that her scores have been relatively weak since the 2024 Olympics. She’s only done the all-around twice since then, at the Canadian Championships, and scored in the high 40s. I assumed she had downgraded and was easing her way into retirement, but damn was I wrong.
Black brought it here, winning the all-around gold (53.050) with an exciting performance which showed that, at 30, she’s still one of the world’s best all-arounders. Her tsuk 1.5 was super powerful with great form. She followed up with an excellent bar routine with a stuck landing, and hit beam. The double spin and punch front on beam are highlights for me, along with the handstand into a bhs loso. She got great height on her jumps on floor; her 2.5 twist to double twist was a bit messy and she stepped out, but it was good enough for gold.
Black made the bars and beam final, and excelled on both, winning silver on the former (13.900). Form errors kept her in second place, but this routine is so much fun to watch. She performs some of the most unique skills in the world, including her Kyla Ross toe-ons, and a full turn straight on top of the bar before her badass dismount—a toe on, front flip off. On beam, she put her hands down on her acro series, but still finished fourth.
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Australia, Wales and England round out the medal table
At 24, Scott has been a reliable member of Team Australia for years, but she really showed her chops as an all-arounder here, winning silver behind Black with a 52.900. She started with a pencil-straight FTY, and followed up with a huge FTDLO on bars. She hit beam and floor with just a few minor wobbles, including a super bouncy landing on her powerful DLO.
Scott delivered a nearly identical beam performance in that final, including a roundoff layout to two feet and a beautiful double pike with just a step forward for a well-deserved gold (13.933).
Speaking of well deserved, teammate Kate McDonald (14.333) was above and beyond the rest in the bar final. She hit the ceiling on her tkatchev, and though her last pirouette was very late, it was a gorgeous routine.
Amankwaah of England was not considered a front-runner going into this competition, but the 17-year-old competed like a veteran, placing fourth in the all-around (51.550). Her FTY was beautiful. Then, she had some pretty big form breaks in her bar routine and took a huge hop forward. She put her hands down on her wolf turn during an otherwise beautiful beam, but showed more control in her gorgeous floor routine. Finishing fourth with errors is an incredible feat. She also won floor bronze (13.300) with a low-difficulty but super clean routine, including a full twist to double tuck.
Other highlights included floor gold from British national all-around champion Evans (13.500). Evans had a disappointing all-around performance when she fell on beam and came in sixth. Four clean passes gave her an eight in execution and the gold on floor.
Abigail Martin of England earned silvers on vault (13.799) and floor (13.333) — my note for her floor routine was “FTDLO kickass,” which I think tells you everything you need to know. Abigail Roper edged out her twin Emily on vault, winning bronze (13.433) by less than two tenths. Emily later got her own bronze, on bars (13.666).
Last but not least, fan favorite Amanda Yap of Singapore won the only medal from a nation other than the top four, with beam silver (13.233) for a routine featuring beautiful leaps and a bhs stepout to back pike.
Tiana Sumanasekera only competed on beam due to a shoulder injury, and South Africa’s Caitlin Rooskrantz withdrew after qualifications, citing health issues.
More news
The U.S. Championships are this weekend! Here’s the full roster, and here’s your schedule (all times Eastern):
Friday, Aug. 7
Juniors — 2 p.m.
Seniors — 9 p.m.
Live stream: Peacock
Broadcast: Saturday 4 p.m. on NBC
Sunday, Aug. 9
Juniors — 12 p.m.
Seniors — 5 p.m.
Live stream: Peacock
Broadcast: Sunday 6pm on NBC
No word yet about YouTube international feeds.
Out of the 21 senior women slated to compete, at least 12 all-arounders will be named to the national team as long as she earns a 51.50 on either day. Additional team members will be decided “based on the needs of the National Team,” which I interpret as “whomever we like as a specialist.”
Other gymnastics headlines
Leanne Wong told Olympics.com that she’s scrambling to get ready for nationals after taking time off to rest her wrist.
Kayla DiCello is in a boot three weeks after surgery on her left leg.
Sunisa Lee shared a video of her training on beam.
July Marano won the all-around at Italian Championships with a 54.250 on day two (results). Giulia Perotti won silver with a 54.350.
Five at the IX: Commonwealth Games
Watch post-competition interviews (and documentary prep footage) from some of the top athletes at the Commonwealth Games:
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