Mitchell and Little Shine at Nationals

WAIS gymnasts Lauren Mitchell and Emily Little have made an impressive start to their National Championship campaigns in Melbourne this week.

Former world champion Lauren Mitchell was a standout on Floor posting 14.075 to sit atop the leader board after qualifying.

Despite being Australia’s most successful gymnast and competing as one of the most experienced athletes at this year’s Championships, Mitchell admitted to nervous ahead of competition.

“Even though it’s qualification, it’s still the first time I’ve been out there on the podium since the Commonwealth Games, so it’s very nerve-racking,” she said.

“Now that I feel like I’m not going to stand there and just shake with nerves, I can be a lot more confident ahead of Friday.”

The twenty-three-year-old made pleasing progress on the beam, and whilst not in contention for all-round title, will return to Hisense Arena on Friday night, focused on building form across the two apparatus for which she is famous.

Fellow Western Australian Institute of Sport athlete Emily Little was simply outstanding in her first test of the Championships, bringing the crowd to their feet as she posted the highest score of the night in the women’s artistic, with a 15.125 on vault.

All but faultless across the four apparatus, she did her hopes of taking out this year’s All-Around crown no harm, pushing the limits in search of big scores that come with increased difficulty.

“That’s what you have to do when you’re introducing new elements into a routine,” she said.

“But I need to control myself a bit more, get my nerves down pat, and look a bit stronger and steadier across all apparatus.”

Little won’t have it all her way however, with Georgia Godwin (QLD), producing a high quality apparatus rotation to accrue 54.500 to Little’s 53.100 in the All-Around leaderboard heading into the final.

Godwin said their was more work to do before she could be satisfied at this year’s Championships.

“I don’t look at the scores because if I do then I think about what I need to do next, when I should be focused on what I do in training,” she admitted.

“I know what I need to work on, and what I need to keep doing consistently.”

“The other girls are pushing me.”

The Australian Gymnastics Championships continue through til Saturday 30 May. For further information and results, visit the official website.

-with GymnasticsAus