Yvonne Tousek

Yvonne Tousek was born in Kitchener in 1980. Like most gymnasts she started at an early age at the K-W Gymnastics Club. By age 12 she was already representing Canada on the international stage, competing in the children’s division of the Pan American Games, where she medaled in vault, uneven bars and floor exercises and won bronze in the all-around competition.

At the age of 14 she moved to Cambridge and she was soon competing at the senior level. Tousek was the top Canadian all-around finisher at the 1995 World Championships in Japan and at the 1997 Worlds in Switzerland.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Tousek was the only Canadian woman to qualify for the all-around final and finished 26th.

In 1996 and 1997 Tousek was named Gymnastics Canada’s female athlete of the year and in 1999 she was named athlete of the year in Cambridge.

At the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Tousek captained the Canadian team that won the gold medal. Individually she placed fourth all-around and won a gold medal on the uneven bars and floor exercise; that year she became the first person to perform a sideways back handspring on the balance beam at the 1999 World Championships in Tianjin, China. The element was then named after her (The Tousek) in the International Gymnastics Code of Points.

At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Tousek led the Canadian women to a ninth place finish in the team competition, placing 15th in the qualifying round.

Tousek finished her gymnastics career at the University of California at Los Angeles where she earned All-American honours and four NCAA titles (three team, one uneven bars). Yvonne is currently touring with the Cirque du Soleil show Corteo.