Fraser Valley gymnast Zachary Clay will return home with at least two medals from the 2023 Pan American Games, after winning gold in the men’s pommel horse event on Tuesday (Oct. 24).
Clay also won silver as part of Canada’s men’s artistic gymnastics team on Saturday (Oct. 21).
Tuesday’s event saw Clay score a 14.400 (difficulty: 5.7 and execution: 8.7), to beat out Canadian teammate Jayson Rampersad. Puerto Rico’s Nelson Alberto Guilbe Morales earned bronze.
Clay’s win is the first-ever gold medal for any Canadian athlete in pommel horse at the Pan Am Games.
“It’s amazing,” he said to CBC Sports after the win. “It’s not every time at a competition like this that you get to go up with your teammate and go one-two.”
The Chilliwack resident and Abbotsford-trained athlete had the second-best score in pommel horse during the team event (behind Rampersad). He also had the eighth best score in the parallel bars during the team competition.
He competed in the parallel bars on Wednesday (Oct. 25), but results were not available at the time of publication.
Clay recently made headlines after helping the Canadian men’s artistic gymnastics team qualify for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. He previously won gold at the 2017 Pan American Gymnastics Championships in Peru as well as bronze in the men’s artistic team all-around event at the 2019 Pan American Games also in Peru.