Lauren Mitchell to Headline Australia’s World Champs Charge

Western Australian Institute of Sport athlete and National champion Lauren Mitchell will headline a team of four gymnasts selected to represent Australia at the FIG World Artistic Championships in London this October following the conclusion of the final selection trial in Canberra yesterday.

Mitchell will be joined by fellow Beijing Olympians Shona Morgan (VIS) and Georgia Bonora (VIS) and young up-and-coming gymnast Larissa Miller (MBC).

The FIG World Artistic Championships will be held from October 13 – 18 at the O2 stadium in London – the same stadium that will host the gymnastics competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The program will feature all-around and apparatus competitions, with a maximum of two athletes from each country eligible for the all-around competition.

After a dominating display at the national championships earlier in the year taking out the coveted all-around title and three of the four apparatus finals, Mitchell, from the Western Australian Institute of Sport, is the only confirmed all-around competitor.

Morgan and Bonora, both Victorian Institute of Sport athletes from the Waverley Advanced Gymnastics Club, are in contention for the final all-around nomination with selectors electing to wait until the final training camp in September before making their decision.

The call between the pair, who finished 15th and 13th respectively in last year’s Beijing Olympic all-around title, is very close and will be a tough decision for national coach Peggy Liddick.

The trio’s return to international competition following the Beijing Olympics is a boost for gymnastics in Australia given they have all previously competed at world championships over the last three years. This ensures the 2009 world championship team will not be short of big-time experience.

Adding an injection of enthusiasm Miller, from the Moreton Bay College in Brisbane, will make her world championship debut in October, selected on the basis of her world-class uneven bars routine and potential for the future.

Supporting the world championship team, Gymnastics Australia has also selected a ‘side tour’ team who will travel at the same time to compete in invitational events in London and Paris.

With the aim of long term development for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and world championships five gymnasts, including four from the VIS, have been selected including Emma Dennis, Britt Greeley, Fiona Coley, Emma Collister and WAIS scholarship holder Emily Little.

Gymnastics Australia’s CEO Jane Allen is pleased with the mix of gymnasts putting themselves up for top international competition.

“It’s great to have the three girls, Lauren, Shona and Georgia, back in international competition following the Beijing Olympics. They have had some great major event experience over the past few years which will put us in good stead coming into the Commonwealth Games next year,” Allen said.

– Gymnastics Australia