William Émard

William Émard
Personal information
Born (2000-03-17) 17 March 2000 (age 26)
Height160 cm (5 ft 3 in)
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented
ClubLaval Excellence
Head coach
Adrian Balan
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Canada
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2026 GlasgowTeam
Silver medal – second place2026 GlasgowRings
Bronze medal – third place2026 GlasgowHorizontal bar
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place2023 SantiagoTeam
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place2026 Rio de JaneiroTeam
Gold medal – first place2026 Rio de JaneiroRings
Silver medal – second place2023 MedellínTeam
Silver medal – second place2023 MedellínRings
World University Games
Silver medal – second place2025 Rhine-RuhrTeam
Bronze medal – third place2025 Rhine-RuhrAll-around
Bronze medal – third place2025 Rhine-RuhrRings
Pacific Rim Championships
Silver medal – second place2018 MedellínTeam
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Challenge Cup 1 2 1
Total 1 2 1

William Émard (born 17 March 2000) is a Canadian artistic gymnast. He represented Canada at the 2024 Olympic Games. He is the 2026 Pan American champion on rings. He was part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2026 Pan American Championships and the silver medal-winning team at the 2025 World University Games.

Gymnastics career

2018–2021

Émard joined the senior Canadian national team in 2018. However, his early career was plagued by injuries. At the 2018 Pacific Rim Championships, he injured himself during warm-up and then spent several months in recovery for a knee injury and a labrum tear in the shoulder.

Émard competed at the 2019 Paris Challenge Cup where he qualified to the event finals on floor exercise, rings, and vault. The following month he competed at the 2019 World Championships where he helped Canada finish seventeenth as a team during qualifications. Throughout 2019 and 2020, Émard had been suffering from a knee injury that kept him limited in his training.

Émard's first International success came at the 2021 Koper World Challenge Cup where he won silver on floor exercise, and then at the Mersin World Challenge Cup he won bronze on floor exercise, silver on rings, and gold on vault. Émard competed at the 2021 World Championships, qualifying in eleventh to the all-around final, sixth on rings, and eighth on vault. He placed eighth in the all-around final and on vault and seventh on rings. In finishing eighth in the all-around final, he earned the best all-around result for a Canadian male gymnast in World Championship history.

2022–2024

Émard competed at the 2022 World Championships where he helped the Canadian team finish tenth during qualifications. Émard competed at the 2023 Pan American Championships. On the first day of competition, he helped the Canadian team qualify to the team final. Additionally, he won silver on rings, which was the first Pan American Championships medal won by a Canadian on the apparatus. During the team final Émard helped Canada win the silver medal behind the United States.

In October, Émard competed at the 2023 World Championships. During qualifications he helped Canada finish fourth, which qualified Canada a team berth to the 2024 Olympic Games, a feat last achieved by the Canadian men's gymnastics team in 2008. During the team final Émard contributed scores on all apparatuses except pommel horse towards Canada's seventh place finish.

In late June of 2024, Émard was named to the team to represent Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside Zachary Clay, René Cournoyer, Félix Dolci, and Samuel Zakutney. While there he helped Canada finish eighth as a team.

2025–present

Émard competed at the 2025 World University Games alongside Matteo Bardana, Ioannis Chronopoulos, Félix Dolci, and Jayson Rampersad. Together they finished second behind Japan, earning Canada its first ever men's team medal at the FISU World University Games. Individually Émard won bronze in the all-around and on rings.

At the 2026 Pan American Championships, Émard helped Canada win their first-ever Pan American team gold medal. During event finals he won gold on rings, becoming the first Canadian to win a title on rings at the Pan American Championships.

Émard competed at the 2026 Commonwealth Games alongside Jordan Carroll, René Cournoyer, Félix Dolci, and Ethan Ikeda. Together they won gold as a team, Canada's first Commonwealth men's team gold in twenty years. Individually, Émard qualified to the all-around, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar finals. Émard finished eighth in the all-around final. On the first day of apparatus finals, he won silver on rings behind Dolci. On the final day of the competition, he placed fourth on parallel bars. During the horizontal bar final, his grip broke, leading to him falling off the apparatus. Rules state that when equipment malfunctions, an athlete can redo their routine after the other competitors have competed. Émard performed cleanly on his second attempt and won bronze behind Dolci and Marios Georgiou.

Émard was selected to represent Canada at the 2026 World Championships alongside Carroll, Cournoyer, Dolci, and Samuel Zakutney. He later withdrew due to injury.

Competitive history

Competitive history of William Émard at the junior level
Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
2016 Olympic Hopes Cup1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)71st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017 Elite Canada2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)4
UCIC Calgary2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Canadian Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Guimaraes Tournament2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Junior Japan Intl Tournament1st place, gold medalist(s)
Competitive history of William Émard at the senior level
Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
2018 Elite Canada661st place, gold medalist(s)5
UCIC Calgary2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Pacific Rim Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2019 Elite Canada1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
UCIC Calgary5
Canadian Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)
Paris Challenge Cup778
World Championships17
2021 Koper Challenge Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Mersin Challenge Cup3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships878
2022 Paris Challenge Cup5
World Championships10
2023
Pan American Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)72nd place, silver medalist(s)
RomGym Trophy2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
World Championships7
Pan American Games2nd place, silver medalist(s)1668
2024 Elite Canada3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)154
Canadian Championships3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)143rd place, bronze medalist(s)75
Olympic Games8
2025 World University Games2nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)5
World Championships29
2026 Elite Canada1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)81st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Canadian Championships4682nd place, silver medalist(s)
Pan American Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Commonwealth Games1st place, gold medalist(s)82nd place, silver medalist(s)43rd place, bronze medalist(s)

References

  1. ↑ "50th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Entry List (Men)". Longines Timing. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "NATIONAL TEAMS WILLIAM EMARD". GYMCAN.org. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  3. ↑ "WILLIAM EMARD". International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  4. ↑ "Canada's Emard on quarantine: "There were positive points, too, in isolation"". International Gymnast. 1 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "WILLIAM EMARD". gymnastics.sport. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "MEN'S ALL-AROUND FINAL - RESULTS". gym.longinestiming. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "Mondiaux de gymnastique : William Émard termine 7e en finale aux anneaux" [Gymnastics Worlds: William Émard finished 7th in the rings final]. Radio Canada (in French). 23 October 2021.
  8. ↑ Fontaine, Mathieu (23 October 2021). "William Émard termine septième aux anneaux au Japon" [William Émard finished seventh on the rings in Japan]. La Presse (in French).
  9. ↑ "William Émard 8e au concours général des mondiaux de gymnastique" [William Émard 8th in the all-around at the World Gymnastics Championships]. Radio Canada (in French). 22 October 2021.
  10. ↑ "William Emard se classe 8e au concours complet des mondiaux de gymnastique" [William Emard places 8th in the world gymnastics all-around competition]. RDS (in French). 22 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "Team USA and Yul Moldauer shin on first day of Pan American Gymnastics (Results)". Panam Sports. 27 May 2023.
  12. ↑ "Canada sending men's gymnastics team to Olympics for 1st time since 2008". CBC News. 1 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Team Canada gymnasts setting the bar high for Paris 2024". Canadian Olympic Committee. 28 June 2024.
  14. ↑ "2024 Olympic Games Men's Results". The Gymternet. 5 August 2024.
  15. ↑ "Historic Silver for Team Canada in Men's Artistic Gymnastics at Rhine-Ruhr 2025". GymCan. 23 July 2025.
  16. ↑ "Japanese gymnasts head the classes at World University Games". International Gymnastics Federation. 28 July 2025.
  17. ↑ @insidegym; (18 June 2026). "🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦History made!" – via Instagram.
  18. ↑ "Weekend Roundup: Huge medal haul for Canadian fencers and gymnasts at Pan Am Championships". Canadian Olympic Committee. 22 June 2026.
  19. ↑ "Canada maintain focus to win Men's Team gold". Commonwealth Sport. 24 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "Canada, Australia, Scotland, and Wales golden in Gymnastics at 'unforgettable' Commonwealth Games". World Gymnastics. 29 July 2026.
  21. ↑ "Laval's Dolci wins rings gold, Émard earns silver at Glasgow 2026". CBC Sport. 27 July 2026.
  22. ↑ "Félix Dolci leads six-gold day for Canada at Commonwealth Games". Toronto Star. 28 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "William Émard makes the most of his 2nd chance to win Commonwealth Games bronze". CBC Sport. 28 July 2026.
  24. ↑ "Canadian Team Named for 2026 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships". Gymnastics Canada. 28 September 2026.