Chilliwack’s Zachary Clay has punched his ticket to the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Clay and his teammates on the Canadian men’s artistic gymnastics squad had to finish 12th or higher at the recent artistic world championship in Belgium to qualify for Paris.
The team ended up finishing fourth and Clay’s performance on the pommel horse was a big part of that success.
“Just such a surreal moment and just so happy that it finally happened,” Clay told CBC News. “Almost every time when the Oympics [came up] in the past … we usually just kind of fell apart. We had injury after injury after injury. It’s been tough in the past. But, you know, we’ve definitely learned from our mistakes and now we’re here stronger than ever.”
This will be the first time since 2008 that the team will compete at the Olympics.
Clay, who trains at Twisters Gymnastics Club in Abbotsford, helped Canada win a bronze in the men’s artistic team all-around event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland. He also went on to win gold in the men’s pommel horse at the 2017 Pan American championships in Peru.
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He went on to earn bronze in pommel horse at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and another bronze in the men’s artistic team all-around event at the 2019 Pan American Games also in Peru.
The 28-year-old Clay is the oldest member on the team and competing at the Olympics will be a career highlight. What makes it even more impressive is that Clay returned to the sport in 2015 after a devastating anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that he suffered in competition.
Clay is joined on the team by René Cournoyer, Félix Dolci, William Émard and Jayson Rampersad. Cournoyer is the lone athlete on the team to have previously competed at the Olympics.
The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics run from July 26, 2024 to Aug. 11, 2024.
