PATRAS, Greece – Canada finished 17^th in group qualifying on Saturday at the world championships in rhythmic gymnastics.

The competition was a qualifier for both the all around group final on Sunday as well as a qualifier for next year’s Olympic Games.  The top-10 on Saturday gained a berth at the Beijing Games.  Russia took first spot.

The Canadian group members were Kathryn de Cata, Monika Lechowicz, Suzanne Lendvay, all of Toronto, and Roxanne Porter, Brihana Mosienko and Alissa Hansen of Vancouver.

‘’I’m extremely pleased with the performance the girls performed to their best of their abilities,’’ said Canadian coach Megan Arnold.  ‘’They had a lot of energy, enthusiasm and passion on the carpet.  The audience loved them. Their routines, composition and execution were really good.   We had one of the youngest teams with five 17-year-olds and they showed a lot of potential for the future.’’

The highlight for Canada at the worlds this week was a ninth place finish for Alexandra Orlando of Toronto in the women’s individual all around final on Friday.  Orlando earned a berth at next year’s Olympics.

Toronto gymnast Alexandra Orlando and coach Mimi Masleva react to the final results posted at the end of the individual all around finals of the 28th World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Patras, Greece on September 21, 2007.

Orlando finished in ninth place all around with a total score of 65.950 points to secure a berth for Canada to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. 

The result matches the best Canadian placings since Lori Fung in 1985 and Mary Fuzesi in 1989, both of which occurred before the breakup of the Soviet Union. The competitors which ranked ahead of Orlando came from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Israel.