Canada's female gymnastics celebrated a berth in the 2012 Olympics even before their qualifying session at the O2 Arena in London was done.
Peng Peng Lee of Richmond Hill, Ont., Kristina Vaculik of Whitby, Ont., Victoria Moors of Surrey, B.C., Ottawa native Talia Chiarelli, (who lives in Boston), Brittany Rogers of Coquitlam, B.C., and Madeline Gardiner of Cambridge, Ont., placed second overall with a combined 221.913 score. They were edged by Italy with 224.621 as a team and the top three performers over all.
But the two countries were far enough ahead of the rest of the other six nations that they were able to book their London Games berths before the event was done.
"I think only the athletes truly understand how much work has gone into this performance," said Rogers, who overcame a serious threatening ankle injury to win a spot on the team. "We missed Christmas at home, and New Year's and had this big training camp. But now it's paid off."
From the opening vault Tuesday, the Canadian women homed in on their Olympic berth, taking the lead ahead of France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. Italy, Brazil and South Korea competed later.
Lee, who was the baby of the 2007 Pan American Games team and even now is just 18, said it had just dawned on her she is playing in the big Olympic show.
"I'm so excited. I'm pumped," she said, adding that the Canadian women worked hard on rescuing points lost on imperfect dismounts at the world championship in Tokyo last October
"I was very scared but I am gaining confidence every day," said Moors, 15, the youngest member of the team and Canadian junior champion. "Qualifying for the Games is like a dream come true."
Canada redeemed itself after failing to be among the top eight countries in Tokyo. The Canadian women placed 11th and got a place in the last-chance pool Wednesday. Canada and Italy will be joined at the Olympics by France and Brazil, who also earned Olympic berths Wednesday. The 12-team Olympic field is rounded out by the United States, China, Britain, Russia, Romania, Japan, Australia and Germany.
The Canadian men will largely be observers of the London Olympics following the last chance meet.
Italy edged the Canadian men by less than a point to earn the last full team berth.
The six-man Canadian squad needed to finish in the top four. Canada is out of the Olympics team event for the first time since the 2004 Games in Athens. The team, hit by retirements after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is likely to only be able to send only one athlete to London 2012. Gymnastics Canada will name the gymnast later this year.