St. Albert gymnast, with own signature move, looking forward to competing in Rio

Gymnast from St. Albert has own signature move The top gymnasts in the country are in Edmonton for the Canadian Gymnastics Championships…including a young woman from St. Albert.

A young woman from St. Albert is preparing to compete in the Olympic Games in Rio – at 19-years-old, she’s already got her own signature move.

Marisa Dick is one of many Canadian gymnasts competing in Edmonton at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships this week.

The athlete, whose favourite event is the balance beam, is a talented artistic gymnast – who has already made a big impact in her sport.

She has her own official move – a split jump mount – with a unique name.

“In gymnastics once you get a skill named after you, it’s after your last name, so in my case it’s called ‘The Dick’,” the gymnast explained – and she’s well aware of why many might find the name funny.

“I mean of course it’s funny, like my last name is Dick,” she said. “I don’t blame anyone for laughing at it, I mean, I join and laugh too. But it is what it is.”

Now, she’s preparing to perform on the world stage, at the Olympics in Rio – although she won’t be competing as part of Team Canada.

Instead, Dick will represent her mother’s home country, Trinidad and Tobago.

“When you’re younger and you want to go, you’re like ‘I want to go to the Olympics’, like that’s our big dream,” Dick said. “You work towards it, so once it starts to become real it’s just crazy.”

However, her first time at the Olympics is not without controversy – Dick was born in Canada, and she’s been criticized, even accused, of stealing the Trinidad and Tobago’s one and only Olympic gymnastics berth from another gymnast who was born there.

The story is so compelling, some have compared it to the Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding scandal of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games.

The topic is a sensitive one, and one Marisa and her team didn’t want to discuss with CTV Sports.

Despite that, Marisa plans to make the most of the whole experience.

“Well, it is my first Olympics, so I think I just have to go out there and experience it and have fun, and have a good routine,” she said. “Mostly, it’s about having that experience.”

The Canadian Gymnastics Championships continue until Saturday, the women’s artistic finals are scheduled for Friday night.

With files from Darcy Seaton