Barahona overcomes a lot to win two medals

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This article was published 29/04/2017 (3297 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Paola Barahona sported a wide-eyed grin on Friday afternoon.

The two medals around the first-year Brandon Eagles gymnast’s neck was evidence of the joy she felt.

Bronze was for helping Manitoba, which included Caitlyn Yip and Barahona’s fellow clubmates Taylor Goodon and Brook Bradshaw, reach the podium in the all-around team event.

The gold was for herself, capturing the all-around title in the Junior Olympic Level 9 (ages 14-plus) category at the western Canadian artistic gymnastics championships at the Brandon Curling Club.

Barahona, 16, recorded the second-best vault score with 9.150 points, was fourth on the uneven bars (8.725), first on the balance beam (9.225) and ended her afternoon with the third-best floor routine (9.125) for an all-around score of 36.225.

There were 23 competitors in the division and the top six in each apparatus advanced to today’s finals.

Not bad for her westerns debut.

“It was my first westerns here and with my new team I was really excited and happy to compete again,” the Grade 9 Vincent Massey student admitted. “At first I was nervous but excited at the same time.”

It was a major turnaround for Barahona from her last event in Edmonton in January when she fell off the beam and struggled warming up on the vault and bars.

“It’s the best feeling because you know both of your hard work has paid off and you always want what’s best for the athletes and you want them to succeed and do well,” Eagles coach Alex Empey said. “Seeing everything come together is just the best moment in the sport, in my opinion.”

The Edmonton event also marked the first time Barahona had competed since she, her 12-year-old sister Alejandra, and their mother, Jessica, moved from El Salvador to the Wheat City in July.

In fact, Barahona did not compete for nearly a full year prior to departing San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador.

“In El Salvador, I didn’t train for almost a year because my coach went to the U.S.A.,” she said. “I didn’t have a coach so I just didn’t do gymnastics but I have kept in mind the gymnastics are good here in Canada and it’s a great opportunity and I want to be better.”

Although improving her gymnastics abilities and routines is important to Barahona, getting a chance to live in a free country like Canada means even more to her.

Her mother came to Canada for the first time four years ago and put Barahona and her sister into an English-speaking school in San Salvador.

The four-foot-nine Barahona is still expanding her English vocabulary but is grateful for what her mother has done.

“El Salvador is not a good place, it’s really dangerous and there’s not any good opportunities,” she said. “My mom came here to give us — me and my sister — a better life and have more opportunities.

“I love Canada, I love living here and I’m happy that I’m here.”

Barahona’s father still lives in the Central American country.

She’s pushing hard with her academics, focusing specifically on math and sciences, and hopes her strong studies, combined with ever-improving gymnastics skills, pay off.

“My goal is to go the Olympic Games and have a scholarship to a good university,” Barahona said.

Empey and Barahona have only been working together for about seven months but if the youngster continues to work hard Empey doesn’t see why she can’t succeed.

The determination and attitude Barahona has in training and while competing really impresses her coach.

“If something isn’t working, she gets back up and she tries and tries and tries again and she’s not done until either it changes or I decide we’ve had enough for the day,” Empey said. “She’s always in the gym, she’s always happy even if something doesn’t work out quite the way it should. She moves on to the next event and she starts fresh.”

And while Empey has helped Barahona get back on the gymnastics track, Barahona’s inspiration points to one person.

Her mother is a former gymnast, who introduced Barahona to the sport when she was just three years old.

“She’s really positive with me and before a competition I watch motivational videos and she says ‘No matter what, you have to enjoy the competition,’” Barahona said.

Meanwhile, Bradshaw placed 11th all-around with 34.050 points, while Goodon was 20th at 32.625. Neither qualified for an event final. Yip was fifth all-around at 34.875 and qualified for the bars and vault finals after finishing first and third, respectively.

Brandon’s Brooklyn Nylen placed 14th all-around in the Junior Olympic 9 (aged 11 to 13) division with a score of 34.375. She will compete in the vault final today after placing third in that event with a score of 9.025.

The western Canadian championships wrap up today.

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