Nobleton’s Bertola medals in national gymnastics

Nobleton gymnast Pietro Bertola (left) with Team Ontario coach Ferenc (Frank) Szabo at the Canadian Championships in Artistic Gymnastics, held recently in Ottawa.

By Jake Courtepatte

A whirlwind start to the 2019 schedule has seen one of King's most agile athletes reaching multiple podiums.
Long-time gymnast Pietro Bertola came home late last month from Carleton University in Ottawa with a silver medal in both pommel horse and rings at the Canadian Championships in Artistic Gymnastics, posting scores of 11.650 and 12.700 respectively.
The pair of podium finishes came shortly after Bertola helped Team Ontario to a group bronze medal, totaling his points for a fourth overall score between pommel horse, rings, floor, vault, parallel bars, and high bars.
It was quite a return to form for the young athlete. Adversity struck in November of 2018 when Bertola fractured two metacarpal bones in his hand during training, putting him out of training for 11 weeks.
Needing to compete in one of three qualifier events for a chance to reach the provincial championship, he was cleared just one week before the second qualifier, where he competed in the vault competition in January to earn his spot.
Yet he says it is pommel and rings, his bread and butter at the national tournament, that he favours most.
“Pietro never seemed to be able to keep his feet on the ground,” said his father Ed. “He climbed anything and everything he could.”
It was for this reason his parents enrolled him in a gymnastics program at a young age, where he jumped directly into the competitive program, and has flourished since.
Next season will see Bertola make the move into the senior men's division, while he completes his final year of high school, before he entertains the idea of competing in the NCAA.
As for now, Bertola said he is feeling “very good about these events.”
“My routines have a good flow to them and they feel smooth. It's a great feeling and I have a lot of fun on these events … I'm look forward to working on increasing their difficulty.”
The 17-year-old from Silverthorne Collegiate in Toronto earned his spot on Team Ontario by way of a massive effort at April's Men's Artistic Gymnastics Ontario Championships, where a first overall score at the Windsor event helped him cruise to the national tournament.
A competitor in artistic gymnastics for nine years, Bertola trains out of Manjak's Gymnastics Club in Mississauga.