Kristina Vaculik (born July 9, 1992) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

who represented Canada at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2011-2012, Vaculik took a year off from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, which she is attending on a gymnastics scholarship, in order to train full-time for the Olympics.

Junior career

2006

In April, Vaculik competed at the

Pacific Rim Championships The Pacific Rim Championships is a major regional biennial gymnastics competition. It is open to teams from member nations of the Pacific Alliance of National Gymnastics Federations, namely Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, ...

in Honolulu, United States. The Canadian team placed second and individually Vaculik placed fifth with an all around score of 57.450. In event finals, she placed third on uneven bars scoring 14.500, seventh on balance beam scoring 14.050, and sixth on floor scoring 14.550. In May, Vaculik won the all around title at the

Canadian Championships Canadian Championships refers to a number of national-level competition in Canada. It may refer to: * Canadian Championship, a soccer tournament * Canadian Figure Skating Championships * Canadian Professional Figure Skating Championships * Canadi ...

in Quebec City, Canada with a score of 57.95. In event finals, she placed third on vault scoring 13.55, first on uneven bars scoring 14.65, second on balance beam scoring 14.60, and first on floor scoring 14.65.

2007

In May, Vaculik won the all around title at the

in Regina, Canada with a score of 58.650. In event finals, she placed second on vault scoring 13.925 and sixth on uneven bars scoring 13.450. In September, Vaculik competed at the

2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar r ...

in Stuttgart, Germany. She contributed a score of 56.000 towards the Canadian team's fourteenth-place finish.

Senior career

2008

In March, Vaculik competed at the

in San Jose, United States. She led the Canadian team to a silver medal finish and individually she placed sixth with an all around score of 58.425. In event finals, Vaculik placed eighth on vault scoring 13.462, second on uneven bars scoring 15.225, and sixth on balance beam scoring 14.775. In April, Vaculik competed at the

Artistic Gymnastics World Cup The Artistic Gymnastics World Cup is a competition series for artistic gymnastics sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the few tournaments in artistic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as ...

in Maribor, Slovenia. She placed second on uneven bars scoring 14.850 and first on balance beam scoring 14.957. In May, Vaculik competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Tianjin, China. She placed eighth on uneven bars scoring 14.075, sixth on balance beam scoring 15.000, and seventh on floor scoring 13.900.
At the end of May, Vaculik competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Moscow, Russia. She placed eighth on uneven bars scoring 14.025 and fourth on floor scoring 14.275. In June, Vaculik won the silver medal in the all around competition at the

in Calgary, Canada with a score of 57.200. In event finals, she placed first on vault scoring 14.050, first on uneven bars scoring 15.600, second on balance beam scoring 15.500, and second on floor scoring 14.800. Vaculik said, "I just want to enjoy myself and have a good competition. It's been very tiring with all the traveling and different time zones and it's also been hard to work on new skills." Canada qualified only two spots for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and used a points system to decide which gymnasts would represent Canada. Vaculik placed third in the points system which meant that she was the reserve gymnast and not able to compete at the Olympics. Throughout the selection process Vaculik suffered from

osteochondritis dissecans Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD or OD) is a joint disorder primarily of the subchondral bone in which cracks form in the articular cartilage and the underlying subchondral bone. OCD usually causes pain during and after sports. In later stages ...

in her right elbow. After the Canadian Championships, she decided to take time off to allow it to heal. In December she had surgery on her elbow and took a year away from competition for rehabilitation.

2009

In December, Vaculik returned to competition at Elite Canada in Oakville, Canada. She placed second in the all around final with a score of 52.950. In event finals, she placed first on uneven bars scoring 14.150 and tied for first on floor scoring 13.900. "I didn't have any expectations going into my first major competition after a one year absence," she said, "I just wanted to experience competition again and feel through my routines in a competitive frame of mind. I wanted to prove to myself that I still have what it takes mentally and physically to compete and belong with the best gymnasts in Canada."

2010

In March, Vaculik competed at the

in Cottbus, Germany. She placed second on vault scoring 13.787, first on uneven bars scoring 14.050, second on balance beam scoring 14.425, and first on floor scoring 13.950. This was the best showing for a Canadian gymnast ever at any World Cup event to that date. At the end of April, Vaculik competed at the

in Melbourne, Australia where the Canadian team placed fourth. Individually, Vaculik placed sixth in the all around with a score of 54.900, fourth in the vault final with a score of 13.600, fourth in the uneven bars final with a score of 14.225, sixth in the balance beam final with a score of 13.350, and third in the floor final with a score of 13.925. In May, Vaculik won the all around title at the

in Kamloops, Canada with a score of 55.950. In events finals, she placed first on vault scoring 14.000, first on uneven bars scoring 14.050, first on balance beam scoring 14.200, and second on floor scoring 13.950. In October, Vaculik led the Canadian team at the

2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at the Rotterdam Ahoy indoor sporting arena in the Netherlands from 16 to 24 October 2010. In this year's championships, there was a total of 73 participating federations with 615 gymnasts ...

in Rotterdam, Netherlands with the team's highest all around score of 52.065. The team placed thirteenth and individually Vaculik placed thirtieth.

2011

In October, Vaculik was a member of the Canadian team at the

2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Inte ...

in Tokyo, Japan. They placed eleventh in the team competition which meant that they would have to compete in London in January in order to qualify a full team for the Olympics. She contributed an all around score of 52.831 in qualifications. Later in October, Vaculik competed in the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. She helped the Canadian team win silver in the team event with an individual all around score of 54.625. Vaculik won the bronze medal in the individual all around final with a score of 54.777 and the silver medal in the balance beam final with a score of 13.925. She also placed fourth in the floor final with a score of 13.500.

2012

In January, Vaculik competed at the

London Prepares series London Prepares series is the banner under which the test events for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were held. The events which make up the series took place in 2011 and 2012. Purpose The test events focussed primarily on the testin ...

where Canada qualified a full team to the 2012 Summer Olympics. She contributed an all around score of 54.707 and placed fourth in the uneven bars finals scoring 14.466.
In February, Vaculik won the all around competition at Elite Canada in Mississauga, Canada with a score of 56.350. In event finals, she placed fourth on vault scoring 13.975, second on uneven bars scoring 14.100, second on balance beam scoring 14.200, and third on floor scoring 13.750. At the

in March, Vaculik was part of the Canadian team that won the bronze medal. She placed seventh in the all around competition scoring 55.100, seventh in the balance beam final scoring 12.825, and tied for sixth in the uneven bars final scoring 13.600. In May, Vaculik competed at the

in Regina, Canada. She won the all around title with a score of 56.700. In event finals, Vaculik placed fourth on vault scoring 14.225, first on uneven bars scoring 14.400, first on balance beam scoring 14.600, and second on floor scoring 14.000. As the Olympics approached, Vaculik hoped to be chosen for the five member team that will represent Canada at the

. "It's still kind of surreal because I've worked basically my whole gymnastics career for this and actually to know that I have a really good chance of going now is just an amazing feeling," Vaculik said. "So, now every day in the gym, I'm just so happy to be there and to be working towards that." At the end of June, Vaculik was one of the twelve gymnasts chosen to compete at the Final Olympic Selection meet in Gatineau, Quebec. Unfortunately, her friend and fellow selection event team member Peng-Peng Lee had been forced to withdraw from the selection process due to an injury to her ACL, which she had sustained during practice prior to the Canadian National Championships in May. On the first day of competition she placed first in the all around with a score of 55.150. Based on her performances here and at the Canadian Championships she was selected to the five member Olympic team. "It’s just an incredible feeling," said Vaculik. "I’ve wanted to go to the Olympics for a long time. Now I’m just going to be working hard every day, marking down the time to the Olympics and being really excited about what I’m doing."

London Olympics

At the end of July, Vaculik competed at the

in London, United Kingdom. She helped the Canadian team qualify to the team final and individually she qualified as the third reserve to the all around final with a score of 53.566. After qualifications, Vaculik said, "I’m at a loss for words. I am so proud of these girls. We had incredible performances, and it’s so amazing to be here right now." In the team final, she contributed scores of 14.166 on uneven bars and 13.433 on balance beam toward the Canadian team's fifth-place finish. This is the highest placement the Canadian team has ever achieved at the Olympics.

References

External links

Kristina Vaculik
on

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at

Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG) is the body governing all disciplines of competitive gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 23, 1881, in ...

Kristina Vaculik
at Gymnastics Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaculik, Kristina 1992 births Stanford University alumni Canadian female artistic gymnasts Living people Gymnasts from Toronto Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts of Canada Gymnasts at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 20th-century Canadian women 21st-century Canadian women