Top-ranked gymnast rebuffed in effort to join Olympic team

One of Canada's top-ranked gymnasts is fighting for a spot on the Olympic team after she said a promised qualifier was cancelled.

Ottawa resident Mariam Chamilova, 18, is the number-one ranked rhythmic gymnast in Canada.

Chamilova said she was encouraged to compete in the individual category of the Olympic qualifier, but says she was promised a chance to qualify for the team in the group event if she failed to qualify on her own.

She didn't qualify in the individual category, but the group team did at the World Championships in September, earning a spot at the London 2012 Games.

She said Gymnastics Canada promised her and other competitors a second chance to make the team as a backup in 2012.

"It's been my dream," said Chamilova. "I've been working towards this goal for the past four years. I think that's the most heartbreaking part."

Chamilova moved to Canada with her family from Russia eight years ago. Her mother Naida has filed an appeal.

"I'm very frustrated... I think it's not transparent," she said. "I think it's not fair. They should be strategic and more accurate with the way they do their business."

Gymnastics Canada has disputed it had ever promised a second qualifier.

In a letter to Chamilova, Gymnastics Canada president Jean-Paul Charon said he could find no evidence that a second group selection was "required, needed or expected."

"Since 2011 there was no need and/or intention to conduct another NTSG open selection post 2011 Worlds if the current Group had secured an Olympic qualification," he wrote to Chamilova.

Charon did say in the letter, however, that Gymnastics Canada might review the decision should a member of the team suffer an injury or illness.

Svetlana Joukova, the head coach of the national team, said the qualification process is unfair and said Gymnastics Canada took away the opportunity for the country's best rhythmic gymnast to compete.

Gymnastics Canada declined to be interviewed, but said the appeal was under review. A decision is expected to be made in the next couple of weeks.