Lessons Learnt for Olympic Debutant Murray
Australia’s rhythmic gymnastics wildcard entrant, WAIS athlete Janine Murray said she learnt some valuable lessons in her Olympic debut which she will put into practice tomorrow in part two of the qualifying round at Wembley Arena.
Murray unfortunately dropped the ball in an otherwise strong opening routine, with the drop proving costly and ranking her last in a field of 24 after the first rotation with a score of 23.1.
She bounced back in the second rotation with a clean hoop routine and score of 24.350 but still finished the first day of competition 24th, but very close to other three wildcards. It is her goal to finish the top ranked wildcard.
Murray will compete again on Friday in the ribbons and clubs disciplines to complete the individual all round competition ahead of the finals on Saturday.
“I am looking forward to tomorrow; my ball routine was a real learning experience today but I am confident I can do everything in my routines tomorrow,” she said.
“What I learnt today was that if I lose concentration for a split second it will cost me.
“I was really happy that I was able to use that lesson straight away today. I pulled myself together really well after the ball routine and completed my hoop routine with no problems.
“I think what happened was that I was feeling so good about how well the routine was going that I relaxed a little too early.
“It feels good … a bit of a relief to have part one of part two of the competition done.”
Rhythmic is the last of the gymnastics disciplines to compete at the Olympic Games with Australians having already completed the trampoline and men’s and women’s artistic competitions.
Results included: men’s artistic all round, Josh Jefferis 19th; women’s artistic teams – Emily Little, Ashleigh Brennan, Lauren Mitchell, Georgia Bonora, Larrissa Miller 10th; women’s individual all round, Emily Little 15th, Ashleigh Brennan 20th; women’s floor, Lauren Mitchell 5th; trampoline, Blake Gaudry 13th.