Jackson Payne of Edmonton finished either first or second in four of six events to take the lead in the all around competition at the Elite Canada men’s gymnastics competition on Friday. Payne topped the field of 26 competitors on pommel horse and parallel bars and opened a big lead in the all around with a first-day score of 87.050 points. Tariq Dowers of Misssissauga, Ont., was second all around with 83.200 points and Casey Sandy of Brampton, Ont., was third at 83.050.

“I did pretty much everything I planned to do and it went fairly well,” said Payne,    who has his sights set on competing at the 2012 Olympics in London.

“The Olympics are always in the back of your mind and there’s definitely a buzz now on the team as the Games get closer.”

Payne is one of several young gymnasts tagged to fill the void left by the retirement of four veterans following the Beijing Olympics, including team leader and 2004 Olympic floor champion Kyle Shewfelt. Sandy, who returned to the Canadian team almost two years ago after an illustrious career in the NCAA with Penn State University, is beginning to round into form after a long recovery from a torn achilles tendon.

“It was a little bit rough at the beginning and it took me a year to get back into full tumbling, but things are starting to come together now,” said Sandy.

“I was trying out a lot of new skills today. My floor routine was different and so was my parallel  bars, so there’s a lot of things I need to iron out if I want to improve my score.”

Sandy produced his best performance on pommel horse, placing second behind Payne. In the junior competition local favourite Simon Porter of Mississauga, Ont., jumped into first place with a total score of 79.80. Kal Nemier of Vancouver was second with 77.550 points and Curtis Graves of Saskatoon, third at 77.350. The competition concludes on Saturday with all around and individual event titles to be awarded in both junior and senior events.