Ana Gamelo
GYMNASTICS has molded a young Filipino-Canadian athlete, Anna Gamelo, to be a very hard working individual.
“I have developed the need to persevere through the challenges presented in gymnastics,” said Gamelo who has made a name in the world of gymnastics.
At age 11, she won her first international medal in 2008 at the International Gymnix Cup competition in Montreal, Quebec, thus capturing an all-around bronze medal for Canada competing against countries such as the USA, Netherlands, and Australia.
She got attracted to gymnastics because “I wanted to execute challenging skills like, releases on bars and twisting on vault.”
Interestingly, she began gymnastics at four years old. “I was always a very active and energetic child, so my mom placed me in recreational gymnastics at Seneca College (in Toronto, Ontario, Canada).”
In a pre-competitive program, called “Petite Pre-elite”, at the Sport Seneca Gymnastics, she joined in at age seven and excelled into the more advanced program “Pre-elite” at age eight. She started as a national pre-novice at age nine and became a national pre-novice champion at age ten.
Years later, as Anna reached a high performance junior category in gymnastics, she placed third at the Canadian National Championships.
As a national senior, she moved to Gemini Gymnastics under the guidance of her two coaches, former Olympic all-around gold medalist Elena Davydova and Valery Yahchybekov, who honed her to win four All-Around National Open Championship Titles, specifically at the Ontario Provincial Championships and at the Canadian National Championships in 201
As a scholar at the Michigan State University in the USA, she pursued a degree in Experience Architecture, specializing in IT Project Management.
Is she proud of her Filipino lineage or heritage? “Yes, of course. I am proud that Filipinos are known for their talents, being innovative, hardworking and humble. And I love Filipino foods and desserts…I’ve been to Manila for a couple of weeks with family friends.”
She continued: “I am very proud to know that I have Filipino relatives who are known all over the world.” Her late granduncle, Jim M. Fernandez, a famous Filipino comics writer, is the creator of “Zuma” series and illustrator of Mars Ravelo’s “Darna” series. Her uncle, Ramon G. Orlina, is a world-renowned Filipino glass sculptor.
She can pick up some common words in Filipino. “I try to respond back in Filipino if spoken to as best as I can.”
She admitted to this journalist that, “Traveling and being on my own gave me the training ground to be independent, self-sufficient, responsible and disciplined.”
She said she likes being active and having different warm foods and dislikes “traffic and long flights.”
“I also love watching movies and TV shows, doing some arts and crafts, designing t-shirts, dancing, sketching, solving riddles and puzzles, and reading books,” she said at length, just like any teenager then, adding that, “I know how to play basic songs on the violin.”
She is also an excellent swimmer. She holds a red belt in taekwondo and has won medals in running 10K. She has choreographed some dances for her gymnastics’ club banquets. .
Truly, Anna Gamelo, a persevering athlete, is a fun, sweet and thoughtful person to be with and is amazingly talented in other things aside from gymnastics.
