Sixteen-year-old Lia-Monica Fontaine secured a silver medal at the artistic gymnastics world championships held in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday. Hailing from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Fontaine took second place in the vault event with a score of 14.033 points. The gold medal was claimed by neutral athlete Angelina Melnikova with a score of 14.466 points, while American Joscelyn Roberson clinched the bronze with a score of 13.983.
Reflecting on her achievement, Fontaine expressed her surprise at earning a medal in her first world championships, stating, “Coming into these worlds, like I know I’m pretty good on vault, so I was looking forward to doing the final, but I did not know that getting a medal would be possible.”
Fontaine now joins a select group of Canadian athletes, becoming only the second Canadian to secure a medal in the women’s vault. Shallon Olsen previously earned a silver medal in 2018. This success at the world championships follows Fontaine’s remarkable performance earlier this year at the 2025 Pan American Championships, where she garnered four individual medals, including silver in the all-around and vault, gold in floor exercise, and bronze on the uneven bars.
In other events, Canada’s Aidan Li, a newcomer to the world championships, finished eighth in the men’s pommel horse final, while Felix Dolci placed 16th in the men’s all-around final earlier in the week. The championships will draw to a close on Saturday with five more apparatus finals.
Additionally, thirty-year-old Canadian Ellie Black, in her ninth appearance at the world championships, secured fourth place in the women’s beam final. Black has a history of success in world championships, having won silver in the beam event in 2022 and a team bronze for Canada in the same year. She also clinched an all-around silver at the 2017 world championships held in Montreal.
