St. Albert gymnast Marisa Dick is good to go for Trinidad and Tobago after returning to form from a potential career-threatening injury.
Last year, Dick tore her left Achilles tendon and spent several months willing her way back to competitive status. Her performance at the Trinidad nationals in early June bodes well for the Pan Am Games in Toronto and world championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
“It feels really strong now. I don’t really have any pain during training anymore,” Dick said.
The Grade 12 Paul Kane High School student was injured while competing for Trinidad at the Senior Pan American Gymnastics Championships in Toronto in late August and finished 29th all-around despite not completing her last event. She was halfway through the floor routine and on her second tumbling run when the Achilles snapped on takeoff.
“It was heartbreaking. It’s the first big major injury I’ve had,” said Dick, who was unable to represent Trinidad at the Central American and Caribbean Games last year in Veracruz, Mexico.
“I was back in the gym two weeks after my surgery (on Sept. 5), just doing strengthening and conditioning and I didn’t do actual gymnastics for about six months. It was really hard at first. It was really slow and really tiring to be in the gym and not be able do anything. It sucked,” said the Ortona Gymnastics Club member. “It’s been tough, just a lot of rehabbing, but you have to keep thinking positive and not give up.”
Dick, 18, resurfaced at provincials in April at Lethbridge and in the national open category competed on beam and vault while achieving top marks on the uneven bars.
At the Trinidad nationals Dick unveiled her full routines in all four events.
“I was really happy just because I had to go there and basically prove myself that I was ready to compete and ready to go to Pan Ams. I did that so I was really happy with how that went,” said the dual Canadian/Trinidad citizen who is not allowed to compete in the elite category at nationals in Canada because of her international commitment with the Caribbean country.
“It was just me competing at my (elite) level. I was just there basically to show that I’m back from my injury and that I can do my routines and I hit four-for-four (nailed all four routines without falling),” she added. “I’ve been working on a new beam dismount, a double back, and I’m still catching up on floor and vault since my injury.”
Dick qualified for the Games at the Senior Pan American Gymnastics Championships but was officially named to the Trinidad team after her successful showing recently.
She is the only Trinidad female gymnast confirmed for the July 10 to 26 Games.
“It’s really nice that it’s in Canada,” said Dick, who is in the same rotation as the Canadians, all of whom she has competed against. “It’s going to be really cool because it will be my first Games. I’ve been to other big meets just for gymnastics but this has every sport in it. It will also be cool to meet other Trinidad athletes and stay in the village.”
Her goal is to “make all-around finals and maybe one or two event finals.”
A strong effort at the Games would give Dick a big boost for worlds at the end of October.
“Doing well at Pan Ams will help me towards being chosen to go to the Olympics (2016 in Rio) and worlds is our first qualifier,” said Dick, who has to place ahead of the other two Trinidad gymnasts at worlds, plus finish among basically the top 100 all-around competitors.
Dick made her world debut in 2013 at Antwerp, Belgium and placed 50th out of 81 females in the all-around event, the highest ranking ever by a Trinidad gymnast.
Last year Dick was the first Trinidad female gymnast to medal internationally at the Commonwealth Invitational in Perth, Scotland. She tied Emma White of Scotland for gold on bars, shared silver with India McPeak of Northern Ireland on beam and received bronze for vault and in the all-around point totals at the Artistic Celtic Cup meet.
An illness would later sideline Dick prior to last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
“It’s great to be healthy again,” said the 2013 Alberta Gymnastics Federation female athlete of the year.
