Rio Test Sets Benchmark for Olympic Dream

WAIS gymnast Emily Little has helped the Australian women’s artistic gymnastics team to a third place finish at the Pacific Rim Championships in the USA.

The Australian team of; Little, Georgia Rose-Brown, Larrissa Miller, Kiara Munteanu, Rianna Mizzen and Emma Nedov had a final hit-out ahead of next week’s Rio Test event which represents Australia’s final opportunity to qualify a women’s artistic team for August’s Olympic Games.

Emily Little showed glimpses of her best form to finish seventh on vault and floor, whilst her teammate Miller starred on bars with a top quality routine for second place.

Having missed automatic qualification for Rio at last year’s World Championships, head coach Peggy Liddick believes the team can bounce back to its best and atone for the lapse in Glasgow.

“Our team has been working extremely hard since last year’s World Championships to return to the world class unit that it has been over the past ten years,” she said. “Each athlete had specific goals that they wanted to achieve in competition [at the Pacific Rim Championships], and barring a couple of exceptions, all of them were achieved.” 

Liddick suggested the Pacific Rim Championship had given the team critical feedback ahead of their make or break test in Rio, with lessons that can hopefully extend through to August.

“Our performances at Pac Rim have given us some really valuable information about the areas that we need to continue to focus on, not just next week, but between now and the Olympics,” she said.

“I am proud of the way the girls have embraced the challenge in front of them, even when there is the potential to fall.  Each of them has made a commitment to driving their own development and preparation for Rio.”

At next week’s Test Event, Australia will competing against Brazil, France, Belgium, Germany, Romania, South Korea and Switzerland, needing a top four finish to secure an Olympic berth.

National Team debutant, Emily Whitehead, has withdrawn from the team due to an injury sustained during podium training in the US. She has been replaced by Alexandra Eade, who will take up her position as reserve when she joins the team in Rio early next week.

– with GymnasticsAus