Strathmore gymnast is top 3 in the province

11-year-old Strathmore local Olivia Jarvis is ranked third in the province for gymnastics, including first on the beam!

With an impressive tally of first on the beam provincially, second on the floor and vault, and 12th on the bars, that all totals up to being the third-best all-around gymnast.

Olivia said that she has always loved gymnastics and that she hopes to go on to nationals "You need to be at a higher level to go to gymnastics. I am at a level six, and you need to be at a level 10." 

To make it to nationals you have to currently be in JO10 (Junior Olympics), and Olivia is in JO6, her coach hopes for her to compete in JO8 next year.

Olivia's mom Laura Jarvis says that she has a determination like none other. "Gymnastics is her life, she loves it, it has been what she has been doing since she was 3 years old. I would say that she is on track to compete nationally, as long as injuries don't come into play, and we have been pretty lucky so far." 

This determination is easily seen in her training regiment, as she trains four days a week for 19 hours a week all year long, even through the summer months.

Olivia's most recent meet was at Mountain Magic in Okotoks last, and even though it didn't go fully as planned Olivia still pulled through with an impressive finish.

"She hurt her knee in the warmup, but she managed to finish strong with gold on the beam, silver on vault, and bronze all around." 

Laura mentioned that Olivia also plays other sports like basketball in her free time with Wildfire. "We're a big basketball family. All of our other kids play basketball and my husband coaches but she's our little gymnast, but she does play basketball."

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