Sixteen-year-old Leah-Monica Fontaine won a silver medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on Friday in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The native of Salaberry-de-Vallefield, Que., finished second on vault with a score of 14.033 points.
Neutral athlete Angelina Melnikova won the gold medal with a score of 14.466 points. American Jocelyn Roberson earned bronze with a score of 13.983.
“Coming into this world, I knew I was good on vault, so I was looking forward to the final, but I didn’t know it was possible to get a medal,” Fontaine said of winning silver at her first world championships.
Fontaine becomes the second Canadian to win a medal in the women's vault. Shallon Olsen won the silver medal in 2018.
Friday's performance continued a breakout season for Fontaine.
In just her first year of competing at the senior level, Fontaine won four individual medals at the 2025 Pan American Championships this past June, including silver in the all-around and vault, gold in floor exercise and bronze on uneven bars.
Also today, Canada's Aidan Lee, another World Championships newcomer, finished eighth in the men's pommel horse final. Felix Dolci was 16th in the men's all-around final earlier this week.
The World Championships conclude on Saturday with five more apparatus finals.
Thirty-year-old Canadian Ellie Black, in her ninth appearance at the world championships, qualified fourth in the women's balance beam final.
She won silver on balance beam at the 2022 World Championships, where she also helped Canada win team bronze. Black also won silver in the all-around at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal.
