Canada 150: Vancouver gymnast Lori Fung claimed Olympic gold

To mark Canada’s 150th birthday, we are counting down to Canada Day with profiles of 150 noteworthy British Columbians.

The sport Lori Fung set out to master at 13 had such a low profile that almost nobody in Canada had heard of it. When she was done, she had rocketed from non-entity to global celebrity, asked to perform before British royalty and the Pope. She even got a part in the movie Catwoman.

Born in Vancouver on Feb. 21, 1963, she started training in rhythmic gymnastics in 1976 with coach Mall Vesik after a sharp-eyed elementary school teacher noticed her natural talent and introduced them.

Rhythmic gymnastics began in Scandinavia in the early 19th century. It emphasizes graceful elements of ballet, muscular gymnastics, creative dance and the simultaneous manipulation of ropes, hoops, balls, clubs and ribbons. It demands enormous flexibility, powerful jumping skills, agility, strength and great hand-eye coordination.

Fung seemed born to the discipline. Still, she trained six hours a day except for weekends, when she cut back to three hours. She finished high school by correspondence so that she could hone routines and increase her physical conditioning without interruption. Between 1977 and 1984, she won every B.C. championship. She was national champion at 19. She won that crown in four of the next five years.

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Her performances demonstrated, says one of her citations, “incredible strength, poise, and grace with the ball, hoop, ribbon and clubs.” Her meticulously crafted routines, performed with elegance, grace and passion, impressed judges. In 1984, she overwhelmed the favourite from gymnastics powerhouse Romania with a near-flawless performance that won her a gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics.

Bad luck struck in 1987 as she prepared for the world championship in Bulgaria. A sharp abdominal pain turned out to be not an injury but appendicitis. She underwent surgery and could not compete. She was considered a medal prospect in the 1988 Olympics, but contracted a debilitating virus and developed painful tendinitis in her feet and retired from competition. She became a national team coach for Canada, co-owner of a Vancouver gymnastics club, and still coaches other athletes as well — helping skaters improve flexibility, for example.

She was so good that she was already a member of the Order of Canada and inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame three years before she retired. She was made a member of the Order of B.C. in 1990 and inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.