Joura Wins Third Straight National Crown

WAIS gymnastics trio, Dasha Joura, Lauren Mitchell and Olivia Vivian have all been included in the squad of nine preparing for the final selection trials at Canberra’s Australian Institute of Sport between 28-29 June.

Joura claimed a third consecutive national crown by winning in all apparatus except the beam, which was claimed by teammate Mitchell.

Joura’s form was a real indicator that she could achieve podium finishes in Beijing, with a series of well performed routines.

National Coach, Peggy Liddick was left enthusiastic after witnessing the girls in action over the weekend.

“They’re not making my job easy, which is a good position to be in,” Liddick said.

“I’ve only selected those who are ready and have Olympic level programs, but we have nine who really deserve the opportunity to show me what they can do over the next month.”

“The qualification format at the Games is a team of six, five gymnasts compete on each apparatus. The four best scores count, but we need to have five strong performers.”

“In team finals it’s three up and three count, so you look for the consistent ones, so it might not be the ones with the potential to score the highest, it will be your rock, the three rocks will go into finals.”

Joura who accrued 122.200 points became only the third Australian gymnast in history to win three consecutive titles, following fellow West Australian Jan Bedford (1661-1964) and South Australian Marina Sulicich (1977-1979).

Mitchell recovered from a slow first day to claim fourth spot with 116.200 points, with the highlight coming in her fine display on the beam on day two.

Joura, who dominated today’s national apparatus challenge by winning three of the four events, will join with Mitchell to represent Australia at the FIG World Cup in Moscow next weekend (Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 May).

The entire squad will attend a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport from Sunday 22 to Sunday 29 June, competing in a final selection trial on Saturday 28, Sunday 29 June.

The final Olympic nominations will be announced by Gymnastics Australia on Monday 30 June at the AIS ahead of the official team announcement by the Australian Olympic Committee.

The Olympic team of six gymnasts and two reserves will remain at the AIS for the Olympic team training camp through until their departure for Beijing on the 1st August.