René Cournoyer (born April 23, 1997) is a Canadian

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

. He represented Canada at the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2024 Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

as well as the

2014 Youth Olympic Games The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Summer Youth Olympic Games, an international sports ...

Gymnastics career

2014

Cournoyer made his international debut at the 2014 Junior Pan American Championships where he helped Canada finish third as a team and individually he won gold on floor exercise and silver on vault. He next 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, ...

where he once again helped Canada win the bronze medal. In August Cournoyer competed at the

2014 Youth Olympics The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Summer Youth Olympic Games, an international sports, ...

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, China. While there he placed 19th in the all-around during qualifications and was the first reserve for the final. He did qualify to the vault and horizontal bar finals. During event finals Cournoyer placed sixth on vault and seventh on horizontal bar.

2015–16

Cournoyer was selected to make his senior international debut at the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. While there he helped the Canadian team finish fourth; individually he placed eleventh in the all-around and seventh on pommel horse. Cournoyer next competed at the 2015 World Championships where he helped Canada finish 15th during qualifications. At the

2016 Olympic Test Event The 2016 Olympic Gymnastics Test Event, known officially as Aquece Rio 2016, served as the final qualifier to the gymnastics events at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Concerns and criticisms During the test event the FIG (In ...

, Cournoyer helped Canada finish eighth as a team; unfortunately Canada was unable to earn a team berth to the

2016 Olympic Games The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

2017–18

In May 2017 Cournoyer competed at the World Challenge Cups in Koper and Osijek. Later that summer he competed at the

2017 Summer Universiade The 2017 Summer Universiade (), officially known as the XXIX Summer Universiade ( zh, t=第二十九屆夏季世界大學運動會, p=Dì èrshíjiǔ jiè xiàjì shìjiè dàxué yùndònghuì) and commonly called Taipei 2017 ( zh, t=台北201 ...

where he finished 11th in the all-around. Cournoyer was selected to represent Canada at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

alongside

Cory Paterson Cory Paterson (born 14 July 1987) is a retired Australian professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward. He previously played for the Newcastle Knights, North Queensland Cowboys and the Wests Tigers in the NRL and Hull Kingsto ...

, Jackson Payne, Scott Morgan, and

Zachary Clay Zachary Clay (born July 5, 1995) is a Canadian artistic gymnast. He is the 2017 Pan American and 2023 Pan American Games champion on pommel horse. He represented Canada at the 2024 Olympic Games. Gymnastics career 2014–15 Clay helped C ...

. Together they won silver behind England. Individually he placed seventh in the all-around, sixth on horizontal bar, and fourth on rings, vault, and parallel bars. Cournoyer competed at the 2018 Pan American Championships where he won silver in the all-around behind

Manrique Larduet Manrique Larduet Bicet (born 10 July 1996) is a Cuban artistic gymnast. At the 2015 World Championships, he won the silver medal in the all-around- becoming Cuba's first World all-around medalist. He is also the 2015 World horizontal bar bronze ...

of Cuba. At the 2018 World Championships Cournoyer helped Canada finish 18th during qualifications. Individually he finished 23rd during qualifications which qualified him to the all-around final; however he withdrew due to an injury to his abdominal muscle.

2019

Cournoyer competed at the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

alongside

, Justin Karstadt,

, and Samuel Zakutney. Together they won bronze as a team behind Brazil and the United States. At the 2019 World Championships Cournoyer helped Canada finish 17th during qualifications and individually he finished 43rd in the all-around during qualifications. Although Canada did not qualify a team to the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, Cournoyer qualified as an individual due to being the highest placing Canadian athlete and being one of the top finishing all-around not part of a qualified team.

2020–21

In early 2020 Cournoyer competed at the

American Cup The American Football Association Challenge Cup (also known as the American Association Cup or simply American Cup) was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1884, and organised by t ...

where he finished tenth. This would be Cournoyer's only competition of the year due to many events, including the Olympic Games, being postponed or canceled due to the global

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021 Cournoyer competed at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. He finished 55th in the all-around during qualifications.

2022–23

Cournoyer was selected to represent Canada at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

alongside

Félix Dolci Félix Dolci ( ) (born 5 May 2002) is a Canadian male Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He represented Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He is the Gymnastics at the 2023 Pan American Games, 2023 Pan American Games all-around and floor e ...

, Mathys Jalbert, Chris Kaji, and Jayson Rampersad. However, prior to competition Cournoyer tore his ACL. Cournoyer was able to make a comeback the following year and was selected to compete at the 2023 World Championships alongside

, William Emard, and Jayson Rampersad. During qualifications he helped Canada finish fourth, which qualified Canada a team berth to the

, a feat last achieved by the Canadian men's gymnastics team in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. Additionally he qualified to the all-around final. During the team final Cournoyer contributed scores on all six apparatuses towards Canada's seventh place finish. During the all-around final he finished twelfth. Cournoyer next competed at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

. On the first day of competition he helped the Canadian team win the silver medal behind the United States. Additionally he qualified to the floor exercise, rings, and horizontal bar finals. On the first day of event finals he placed seventh on floor exercise and sixth on rings. On the final day he won bronze on horizontal bar behind Brazilians

Arthur Mariano Arthur Nory Oyakawa Mariano (born 18 September 1993) is a Brazilians, Brazilian artistic gymnast and a member of the Brazilian national team. He is a three-time Olympian, having represented Brazil at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil at the 201 ...

and Bernardo Miranda.

2024

In late June Cournoyer was named to the team to represent

Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics Canada competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France from July 26 to August 11, 2024. Since Canada's debut in 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900, Canadians, Canadian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, except for t ...

alongside

, William Émard, and Samuel Zakutney. While there he helped Canada finish eighth as a team. Individually he finished seventeenth in the all-around.

Competitive history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cournoyer, René 1997 births Canadian male artistic gymnasts Living people Gymnasts at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Gymnasts at the 2015 Pan American Games Gymnasts at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Gymnasts at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists in gymnastics Pan American Games bronze medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Repentigny, Quebec Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Canada 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Gymnasts at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Gymnasts at the 2024 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in gymnastics