Incoming University of Iowa gymnasts Aurélie Tran and Cassie Lee helped guide Canada to a fifth-place finish in the women’s artistic gymnastics team final at the 2024 Olympics. The result is team Canada’s best in women’s gymnastics, tying it with another fifth-place standing at the 2012 London Olympics.
Inside Bercy Arena in Paris, France, the duo scored a combined 52.533 points across three events as Canada sat 8.864 points behind the gold medal-winning United States.
In the first rotation, Lee — hailing from Toronto — scored a 13.333 on the balance beam. The 18-year-old followed up that performance with a 12.600 in her floor routine. Lee, who has been on the senior national team since 2021, was coming off an ankle injury suffered in the 2023 Pan American Championships.
Fellow teenager Tran scored a 13.100 in the floor event, then had her top score of the day with a 13.500 on the uneven bars. Born in Quebec City, Tran was also recovering from injury, as she tore her Achilles in 2022.
Leading up to the Olympics, Tran and Lee earned a bronze medal for Canada in the 2023 Pan American Games. Starting their gymnastics careers at ages 5 and 3, respectively, Tran and Lee will don the Black and Gold this fall for the Hawkeyes.
The GymHawks amassed a 5-4 record last season, including a 10th-place finish at the Big Ten Championships.
Head coach Larissa Libby resigned in May after the university launched an investigation team’s culture and environment. New head coach Jen Llewellyn will look to guide Iowa to its first Big Ten regular season title since 2021.