Mitchell and Little National Champions
WAIS gymnasts Lauren Mitchell and Emily Little have claimed national championship titles to mount their selection claims for the single women’s artistic spot on the 2016 Australian Olympic Team.
With Australia missing qualification in the team event for Rio, the 2016 Australian Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne became a showcase of individual talent as Australia’s best looked to advance their case to represent Australia at August’s showpiece in Brazil.
The incredible return of dual Olympian Lauren Mitchell reached new heights on Sunday, when the 24 year-old won gold on Beam, to underline her status as a great of the sport, with her title following Friday’s announcement that Mitchell had earned entry into Gymnastics Australia’s Hall of Fame.
Just 10 months back from a ruptured ACL and reconstructed knee that threatened to end her illustrious career, Mitchell was atop the podium again, after a Beam routine that fetched 14.025 points.
The popular athlete admitted relief post competition, but still faces a nervy wait to see if her journey is capped with Olympic selection.
“The gold on Beam is the icing on the cake, but I am just happy that I did a routine that I would usually do in training,” Mitchell said. “The first day was definitely not what I do in training but over the last couple of days I have proved that I have improved.”
“As long as we put our performance forward and our best foot forward and go this is what we can show, this is what we can deliver – then it is up to the selectors. And it makes their job more difficult knowing that we are all really out there and could be in with a chance. It is going to be a nerve-wracking 24 hours or so.
For Mitchell however, she can rest easy knowing she gave it her all.
“I definitely didn’t hold anything back and I am not disappointed with anything I did and I still have room for improvement,” she said.
London Olympian Emily Little was undoubtedly one of the stars of the Championships, winning a national title in the Vault final on Saturday before adding silver on Floor on Sunday, in addition to her All Around bronze medal on Friday, to strongly place her name under the selectors’ noses.
Little won gold with a score of 15.012 but more importantly, hit her routine across all three days of competition, to emphasise her strength on the apparatus.
“I was really happy that I could just show that I can get my vaults out consistently in the three days that I have competed so far,” 22-year-old Little said.
“I was particularly happy with my second vault – with the stick – I don’t think I’ve done that in competition before so that was a good surprise,” she said.
“It was a Tsuk Full and is a little bit lower value than my first vault – the Yurchenko Double – so I’m actually working on upping the value of my second vault so I am just happy that I could perfect it in order to upgrade it. I would add another half-twist in there. I’ve been training it at home with a softer landing so I am really just trying to get that up to standard at the moment.”
The Western Australian pair will likely face competition for selection in the form of Victorian gymnast Larrissa Miller who claimed gold on Floor, despite an earlier unexpected miss on her favoured Bars routine.
With the heightened stakes evident, Miller admitted post competition that the competition had taken its toll.
“I’m actually feeling really exhausted,” Miller said.
“I got a little teary before my Floor routine because I am so exhausted but I am glad that I was able to get myself together and actually perform the routine the way I wanted to. It wasn’t as good as it was on the second day but I am happy that I could back it up and also come back from the bars yesterday.”
The depth of Western Australian talent was also on display across nationals, with youngster Yasmin Collier particularly impressive, earning appearances in three senior finals in a positive sign of things to come.
Collier was fourth on Vault (13.137), earned eighth place on Beam (12.550) and was eighth on Floor (12.525) in a consistent campaign.
Paige James finished fifth on Vault (12.900), Darcy Norman was seventh on Bars (12.725), whilst Western Australia finished second in the Teams, capping a strong Championships for the state.
An official announcement regarding Olympic nomination is expected to be made by Gymnastics Australia at the culmination of the 2016 Australian Gymnastics Championships, which run until June 4.