Incoming Gophers gymnast to compete in second straight Olympics

Ava Stewart will represent Canada next month.

Goldie Gopher makes a heart with its hands during a NCAA Big Ten Conference football game against Iowa, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. 211113 Minn Iowa Fb 040 Jpg / Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen /

Incoming freshman Gophers gymnast Ava Stewart has made the Canadian National Team, and she will represent her country at next month's Olympics in Paris.

𝓞𝓵𝔂𝓶𝓹𝓲𝓪𝓷 🇨🇦

Congrats to incoming freshman Ava Stewart on making the Canadian Olympic Team! pic.twitter.com/BXuAlhJ8gh

— Minnesota Women’s Gym (@GopherWGym) June 28, 2024

Stewart will be turning 19 in September, but this will be her second time representing Canada in the Olympics. As a team, they finished 10th at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

She also competed for her home country at the 2023 World Championships, where she finished 42nd in the floor exercise and 52nd in uneven bars. Stewart was born in Tennessee but moved to Bowmanville, Ontario, when she was five. After this year's Olympics, she is expected to enroll at the University of Minnesota this fall and compete for the school's women's gymnastics team.