Emma Leathem has been one of the territory鈥檚 best gymnasts for quite some time but now she鈥檚 the answer to a trivia question.

The 17-year-old is back home after competing at the Gymnastics National Championships in Richmond, B.C., late last month. In doing so, she became the first female gymnast from the NWT to ever participate in the event, and she certainly didn鈥檛 disappoint.

She said her time there was simply awesome.

鈥淚t was a great experience and it was a thrill to be able to say that I鈥檝e accomplished something like that,鈥� she said.

Leathem competed on the vault and uneven bars only, meaning she wasn鈥檛 in contention for the all-around as she didn鈥檛 do the floor or beam. Still, she made the most of her time as she qualified for the vault final and finished eighth overall, becoming the first female NWT gymnast to place in an event final.

She said a top-10 finish was a hopeful placing beforehand.

鈥淚 just wanted to go in, do my best and see where that would lead me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was awesome just to know that I am a top-10 vaulter and have the ability to finish in that area.鈥�

The result is a bit more impressive when one realizes that Leathem hurt her knee during training. That meant she didn鈥檛 go as hard leading up to the main event, saving her best efforts for when she needed it.

鈥淚 was taking it really easy during training,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 went up for the vault, told myself this was my one chance, I did it, I nailed it, and I felt very strong about it.鈥�

John Tram, Leathem鈥檚 coach, said it was one of the best vaults he鈥檚 ever seen, and it also had a higher degree of difficulty than many others.

鈥淰ault is one apparatus where it鈥檚 really hard to stick the landing,鈥� he said. 鈥淗er vault was one of the harder ones 鈥� a handspring front-tuck 鈥� and that had a start (scoring) value of 10.0. A lot of the other athletes weren鈥檛 doing 10.0 starts so that was awesome to see. We saved her knee as best we could and luckily, she was all good that day.鈥�

Leathem, who鈥檚 a veteran of the Western Canadian Championships, Arctic Winter Games and Canada Winter Games, said competing at the national championships was a much different experience from anything she鈥檚 ever done.

鈥淲estern Canadians is just those from Western Canada, whereas nationals is much more competitive,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got Quebec and Ontario, who are the strongest teams in Canada.鈥�

The intimidation factor wasn鈥檛 there at all, she added, as she鈥檚 used to being part of small teams whenever she travels.

鈥淚鈥檝e gone to competitions by myself in the past but I鈥檓 getting used to it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 felt really good going into nationals and I felt good at what I was bringing to the competition. We trained really hard before we went and I was reaching my peak, everything was consistent and I felt strong.鈥�

Tram knows a thing or two about nationals as he was the first athlete 鈥� male or female 鈥� to represent the territory on three occasions: 2002, 2005 and 2006, the latter year being the most successful result for a NWT gymnast to date when he won bronze on the rings.

He said he did whatever he could to make Leathem comfortable.

鈥淚 talked about my experience and everything I knew to prepare her as best as possible 鈥� just try and make her relaxed so she didn鈥檛 feel any kind of pressure and to just be in the moment to focus on herself,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how you achieve the best results: not being distracted by anything and focusing on the right things, setting the right goals.鈥�

Not being able to compete for the better part of the last three years was also a worry, he added.

鈥淪he didn鈥檛 have her best result at Westerns (back in April) because she was just coming back into the sport but she worked hard and she peaked right at nationals,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e had no idea of what her standing would be before nationals because we haven鈥檛 had competitions for a while and it鈥檚 hard to predict where the other teams are at. I knew she could do well and it just had to be good on that day but she did awesome.鈥�

As for her future gymnastics endeavours, Leathem isn鈥檛 sure what she will be doing as she鈥檚 focusing on school. She just graduated from St. Pat鈥檚 and is weighing her post-secondary options.

鈥淲hen I figure it out, we鈥檒l see how it goes,鈥� she said.

Tram added, 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard because there aren鈥檛 any university competitions in Canada. It鈥檚 all about seeing what works out best for her but school should be number one for her.鈥�

As for being that trivia question answer? It feels awesome, said Leathem, but also a good feeling knowing she鈥檚 started the path for female gymnasts in the territory to compete at the Gymnastics National Championships.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud to be able to say I was the first female,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t feels awesome to accomplish what I did.鈥�