Mitchell and Little Book Their Olympic Tickets

Western Australian Institute of Sport gymnasts Lauren Mitchell and Emily Little have been officially selected by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Mitchell – a 2010 World Champion – will compete in her second Olympic campaign in London, whilst Commonwealth Games gold medallist Little will make her Olympic debut, with both part of the five-member women’s artistic team.

Leading the team, Mitchell is considered a strong medal prospect in London and the reigning WAIS Athlete of the Year said she was looking forward to the challenge in England.

“It’s really exciting to have the opportunity to compete at my second Olympic Games and I’m thrilled to be heading to London with the team,” Mitchell said.

“I’m really looking forward to the atmosphere in London. When I competed in 2009 at Worlds it was really enjoyable so I’m looking forward to heading back and doing Australia proud.”

Mitchell, who turns 21 just before the Games, is currently training with her teammates at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra before heading to London in a few weeks time.

“Training wise I am focusing more on quality,” she said. “Peggy is introducing distractions to get us used to the Olympic arena and test our ability to ensure we can perform to our best.”

Little is considered Australia’s most unflappable performer and regularly competes first on apparatus to get the Australia team off to a powerful start on each of the four rotations.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Little won gold in the women’s team, and silver in the All-Around.

Mitchell and Little’s selection has taken WA’s numbers for London up to 26.

Full biographies on Mitchell and little can be found on the AOC’s official website – http://london2012.olympics.com.au/athlete-search?sport=AF748DAC-5056-B04A-53F57B51AD572BBE