Sixteen-year-old Lia-Monica Fontaine clinched a silver medal at the artistic gymnastics world championships held in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday. Hailing from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Fontaine secured the second spot in the vault event with a score of 14.033 points. The gold medal was won by neutral athlete Angelina Melnikova, scoring 14.466 points, while American Joscelyn Roberson claimed the bronze with a score of 13.983.
Expressing her surprise and joy at the achievement, Fontaine mentioned, “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.” This marks Fontaine as only the second Canadian to win a medal in the women’s vault, following Shallon Olsen’s silver medal in 2018.
Fontaine’s success at the world championships adds to her impressive season, which began with a standout performance at the 2025 Pan American Championships in June. Competing at the senior level for the first time, Fontaine secured four individual medals, including silver in the all-around and vault, gold in floor exercise, and bronze on uneven bars.
In other results from the championships, Canada’s Aidan Li, a newcomer to the world stage, 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 wrap up on Saturday with five more apparatus finals.
Meanwhile, thirty-year-old Canadian Ellie Black, appearing in her ninth world championship, qualified fourth for the women’s beam final. Black, who previously secured a silver in the beam at the 2022 worlds and helped Canada to a team bronze, also earned an all-around silver at the 2017 worlds in Montreal.
