Bringing Back: Charlotte Mackie

I was going through some of our old blog posts and I found this interview we did with Canadian gymnast Charlotte Mackie. (Click here to read the full interview) Looking back on that interview really got me thinking about how much I miss Charlotte's gymnastics and how unfortunate her story is. She was innovative and unique; a crowd pleasure and yet she wasn't able to realize her dream of making it to the Olympics. (Despite being one of Canada's top gymnasts for many years) It's sad to think about what Charlotte might have accomplished had she not gotten injured one year shy of the Olympic games. I personally think she would have been on that team in London, but alas we will never know. Here's a look back at the highs and lows of Charlotte's career, as well as some of my favorite routines from her!

Photo Credit: Jeff Sipsey

Charlotte became an elite gymnast in 2004 at the age of 10. She trained at Omega Gymnastics under coaches Vladimir and Svetlana Lashin and showed a lot of promise at such a young age! She was naturally flexible and had a confidence to her gymnastics that most young girls don't possess. Her idol growing up was none other than her big sister Gael, who represented Canada at the 2004 Olympic Games and was the senior national champion in 2003. After seeing everything that her sister accomplished, Charlotte was determined to create success of her own. In 2005, Charlotte became the junior national champion and also picked up her first international assignment.

                     

In 2006, Charlotte represented Canada at the Pan American Games where she helped the team to a 3rd place finish and also earned a bronze medal on balance beam and  floor exercise. Her beam routine from those event finals is one of my all time favorite routines. Not only was it performed with such ease, but she took so many risks. Charlotte was not that kind of gymnast who played it safe. (Her one armed Onodi was so badass!) This was around the time that Charlotte's gymnastics really caught my eye.

                       

In 2007, Charlotte really started to blossom! She won 3 bronze medals at the Romanian International Meet (All Around, Beam, & Floor) and helped the team secure a bronze medal at the Pan American Games. Mackie lists the 2007 Pan Ams as one of her greatest memories in gymnastics. "It was nerve-wracking at the time for sure but it was fun performing in front of the huge crowd of people. At that point, I was young and so I didn't expect too much from myself. It was mostly fun."

Photo Credit: Lloyd Smith

2008 was a breakout year for Charlotte. She lead the Canadian team to a historic 2nd place finish at the Pacific Rim Championships (beating out the Chinese and Russian teams) and also secured a 4th place all around finish. Mackie also qualified to 3 out of 4 event finals! Later that year, she competed in the senior division at the Canadian National Championships and placed 4th All Around. Charlotte was 14 (turning 15 in October) so she was not eligible to compete at the Olympics that summer, despite competing as a senior at nationals. (Not really sure why they let her do that?) Many people (myself included!) thought that Charlotte could have made it to the Olympics in 2008 had she been just a year older. In an interview with International Gymnast Magazine, Charlotte said "I wished I could have gone. But now that I really think about it, I would have been too young, and inexperienced. There would have been way more pressure and intense training and competition for the last three or four years. Now I think I'm lucky to be too young for 2008, because I still love gymnastics and still have goals ahead of me. I think the long training hours, constant pain and tiredness is hard on young kids. I had lots of challenges and got lots of experience from the junior meets I did." 

                           

In 2009, Charlotte switched to Surrey Gymnastics Society under coach David Kenwright because she felt she needed something different. "I needed a different approach to coaching and training, a different coaching style. Although every coach who has worked with me has helped me in some way, I want to be able to love gymnastics for all of my life and hope to continue my elite career for another three or more years, or possibly longer." The switch was a smart idea, as Mackie continued to have successful results in 2009. She finally moved up to the senior ranks and made her very first World Championships team. Her senior debut also included a sweep at the Gymnix World Cup.

Photo Credit: Unknown

Mackie started out the 2010 with a bang at the Pan American Games placing 2nd with the team, 11th All Around, and 7th on beam. At the World Championships, she competed on vault, beam, and floor. The last meet of the 2010 season was Elite Canada and many people expected big things from Charlotte. She wanted to finish out the year strong and continue to prove that she deserved a spot on the 2012 Olympic team. She ended up placing 3rd All Around, despite injuring herself on the very last event. Little did fans know- this would be the last time they saw Charlotte compete. The 2011 season was a complete write off. "I was quite annoyed because I was only continuing to improve at that point. I was really focused on getting in shape and working extremely hard to make an Olympic spot. It has been a frustrating and long process for me because I had two surgeries with numerous plates and screws put in and then removed 6 months later" Charlotte told us back in February of 2012 "I was on crutches for the majority of that 6 months and as of right now, I am thankful to even be walking."

                     


Unfortunately for Charlotte, her dream of making it to the Olympics slowly started to fade. "It’s been terribly sad and frustrating coming to terms with the ultimate dream of the Olympic Games slipping away. Working my entire life towards it is tough enough, but having a possible career ending injury has made it difficult to even think about or want to come back. Although the injury is slowly recovering, I ended up with a few complications including osteopenia in my leg bones. I wasn’t allowed to run or jump on it for the past year because the bones could fracture easily." Mackie said.

Photo Credit: Jeff Sipsey

Even though Charlotte's gymnastics career is now over, she's enjoying the other important things in her life such as school (University of British Columbia) and dance. "I always kept dancing in the mix and at the back of my mind, throughout my life and when I was competing. In between competitive gymnastics seasons I took dance classes, and I would really like to focus on this now and see where it leads. In gymnastics, I’ve always had a passion for dance. I was never naturally powerful and to me, the real beauty in the sport is the artistry. I definitely tried hard to focus on that in my gymnastics and its quite tough to maintain strength and artistry, so I have admired gymnasts like Ksenia Afanasyeva and Nastia Liukin who could make gymnastics beautiful."

We miss your beautiful gymnastics Charlotte!

And of course this shrine wouldn't be complete without my favorite picture of Charlotte!